//.  /3.  23 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOi^OGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.     N.    J. 


Presented  by 


V.     10 

copY  2- 


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in  2010  with  funding  from 

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THE  /^  ' 


x-^- 


SONG   OF   SOLOMON. 


BT 

DE.  OTTO   ZOCKLEE, 

pSOFfiSSOR  OF  THEOLOGY  IN'  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GREIFSWALD„ 


TRANSLATED   FROM    THE    GERMAN,    WITH  ADDITIONS. 


BY 


W.   HENRY   GREEl^,  D.D., 

FBOFEBSOK  OF   ORIENTAL  AND  0.  T.  UTERATURE   IX    THE  TntOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  PRINCETON,  K.J. 


NEW  YORK: 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS. 

189S 


Enteked,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER,  &.  CO., 

In  the  Clerk'a  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District 

of  New  York. 


THE 


SONG    OF    SOLOMON 


INTRODUCTION. 

I  1.     NAME    AND    ARTISTIC    FORM    OF   THE    SONO   OF   SOLOMON. 

The  title  O'TU'n  T'E',  "  Song  of  songs,"  or,  as  it  is  more  fully  expressed  in  i.  1,  D'"l''B'n  T^ 
113 7KJ^  liyx  "  The  Song  of  songs,  which  is  Solomon's,"  describes  this  book  neither  as  a  "  series 
(chain)  or  collection  of  many  songs"  (as  Kleuker,  Adghsti,  Velthusen,  Pahlus  suppose), 
nor  as  one  prominent  among  the  many  songs  of  Solomon  (according  to  Ibn  Ezra's  and  D.  Kim- 
CHl's  translation  :  "A  song  of  the  songs  of  Solomon  ").  "  Song  of  songs  "  (Sept.,  aa/ia  ^a/iuTuv ; 
Vulg.,  canticum  cmilicorum)  is  without  doubt  rather  designed  to  characterize  this  poem  as  the 
most  excellent  of  its  kind,  as  the  finest,  the  most  precious  of  songs.  Of  the  many  songs,  which, 
iL'cording  to  1  Kings  v.  12,  Solomon  composed,  the  author  of  this  title, — whom  we  must  at  all 
events  distinguish  from  the  poet  himself,  as  is  shown  particularly  by  its  "^KfX  instead  of  the  po- 
etical abbreviation  p,  which  is  always  used  in  the  song  itself* — would  exalt  the  one  before  us  as 
e.speoially  commendable  and  elegant.  This  sense,  suggested  by  analogies  like  "heaven  of  hea- 
vens" (1  Kings  viii.  27),  "servant  of  servants  "  Gen.  ix.  25,  "vanity  of  vanities  "  (Eccles.  i.  2), 
"  ornament  of  ornaments  "  (Ezek.  xvi.  7),t  which  Luther  has  briefly  and  appositely  expressed  by 
"  das  Hohelied"  is  undoubtedly  involved  in  the  expression,  whether  riaiE'^  '^V.'^.,  "  vvhich  is 
Solomon's,"  be  referred  (as  is  usually  done)  to  the  principal  subject  in  the  singular  TK?,  "song," 
or  to  the  immediately  preceding  plural  D'^'C/n  ("Song  of  the  songs  of  Solomon^the  noblest  among 
thn  songs  of  Solomon;"  so,  e.g.,  Hitzig,  Ewald,  Dichler  des  A.  Bds.,  2d  edit,  I.,  236;  Bleek, 
EinleU.  ill!:  A.  T..  2d  edit.,  p. 636). J 

*  [There  \b  no  reason  whatever  to  suspect,  much  \em  believe,  that  this  title  is  of  a  later  date  than  the  book  iteelf,  of  whoso 
text  it  13  without  doubt  a  genuine  and  integral  part.  In  its  favor  may  be  urged  the  usage  of  ancient  writers,  both  SHcred 
mid  profdue,  to  preface  their  productioua  by  some  Bucti  brief  statement  of  the  nuthor,  iheme  or  occiision.  It  stands  upon 
Iho  same  ground  with  the  titles  to  tlie  Psalms  and  prophecies,  whose  originality  baa  likewise  been  disputed,  often  on  the 
umst  frivolous  pretences,  but  never  disproved.  The  correctness  of  this  title  is  conceded,  ur  is  capable  of  being  readily 
pstriMishod.  It  was  neither  indecorous  nor  unnatural  for  the  author  to  designate  his  own  productiin  as  the  Song  of  fongs, 
if  it  involved  the  sacred  mystery  which  all  but  the  lowest  clas^  of  erotic  interpreters  find  in  it.  In  tlie  elevated  diction  of 
lliis  Song  the  abbreviated  and  unusual  form  of  the  relative,  which  occurs  only  sponidically  elsewhere,  is  employed  exclu- 
sively throughout;  but  it  surely  need  occ;ision  no  surprise  thiit  it  is  not  found  likewise  in  tlie  prosaic  title,  as  Zockleb. 
himself  confesses,  g  3,  item.  2.  The  occurrence  of  ^l^X  in  Judg.  v.  27  casts  no  suspicion  on  the  genuineness  of  that  verse 
though  ty  is  used  elsewhere  in  the  song  of  Deborah,  ver.  7.  Nor,  on  the  other  h  md.  does  a  single  (y,  where  "1[yN  is, 
the  prevailing  form,  discredit  Gen.  vi.  3  orJobxix,29.  Both  forms  of  the  relutivo  likewise  occur  interchangeably  in 
Ecclesi;t3tes,  and  both  are  found  in  the  writings  of  Jeremiah. — Tr.] 

t  I^Orher  superlatives  of  like  construction  are  the  Holy  of  holies,  Ex.  xxvi.  33;  King  of  kings,  Ezek.xxvi.7  ;  God  of  gods 
and  l.ordof  1  .rds.  Deut.x.17  (but  not  Josh,  xxii.22,  where  the  original  is  different);  see  hIso  Dan.  viii.  25,  Ps.  Ixxii.  5,  comp. 
Rl-t.  i.  6.  Th-*  same  idiom  is  found  in  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  e.  g.,  an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  Phil.  iii.  5,  and  has 
eveu  been  transferred  to  English  as  in  the  phrase  "  heart  of  hearts." — Tr.] 

X  [Rendered  by  Coverdale  :  Ballets.  In  Matthew's  Bible.  Cbanmer's  and  Bishops'*.  Ballet  of  ballets  of  Solomon.  Wick- 
LiFFP  and  the  common  Enarlisb  version  :  Songofsongg.  Doww:  i^olomons  Canticle  of  canticles.  Geneva:  "an!  excellent  Song, 
which  was  Solomon's."  to  wliich  is  added  the  note  "  Heb  a  Song  of  songs,  so  called  l)pcause  it  is  the  chiefest  of  those  thousand 
and  five  wljich  Solomon  made,  1  Kings  iv.  32."     Patrick  ;  "  The  most  natural  meaning  seems  to  be  that  this  ia  the  moat  ex* 

1 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


The  unity  of  its  contents  might  accordingly  be  inferred  from  this  most  ancient  denomination  of 
the  book,  traditionally  preserved  in  the  Bible.  The  Song  of  Solomon  is  one  poem,  a  poetical  unit 
artistically  arranged  and  con.sistently  wrought  out — not  a  collection  of  many  songs  put  together 
like  a  string  of  pearls  (Herdek),  a  "  delightful  medley  "  (Goethe),  an  anthology  of  erotic  poems 
without  mutual  connection  (Magnus),  a  conglomerate  of  "fragments  thrown  together  in  wild 
confusion  "  (Lossner),  etc.  All  these  hypotheses  which  issue  in  the  chcppmg  up  of  this  noble 
work  of  art  (with  which  is  to  be  classed  in  the  most  recent  times  the  view  taken  by  the  Reformed 
Jews  Rebenstein  and  Sanders,  which  pares  away  portions  of  ch.  iii.  and  viii.  as  spurious,  and 
carves  the  whole  into  four  songs)  are  utterly  untenable.  This  appears  both  negatively  from  the 
meaningless  and  formless  character  of  the  fragments,  great  or  small,  which  they  create,  and 
positively  from  the  impression  of  unity  and  inner  connection  which  an  unprejudiced  and  thorough 
study  of  the  whole  produces.  That  in  several  passages  the  same  sentence  recurs  in  identical 
words  as  a  refrain  (see  particularly  ii.  7  ;  iii.  5  ;  viii.  4) ;  that  a  chorus  of  "  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem "  is  addressed  no  less  than  six  times,  and  a  seventh  time  is  mentioned  in  the  third  person 
(iii.  10 ;  comp.  i.  5 ;  ii.  7  ;  iii.  5  ;  v.  8  ;  v.  16 ;  viii.  4) ;  that  the  relation  of  a  lover  to  his  beloved 
runs  through  the  whole  as  the  prominent  theme,  and  prevailingly  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  or  res- 
ponsive song  (see  especially  ch.  i.;  ii.  1-7;  ch.  iv.;  ch.  vii.  and  viii.) ;  and  finally  that  references 
not  only  to  the  times  of  Solomon,  but  to  his  person  as  the  principal  subject  of  all  the  descriptions 
and  amatory  outpourings  of  the  heart  stand  out  every  where  over  and  over  again  (i.  4,  5  ;  iii. 
7-11;  vii.  6;  viii.  11,  12);  these  are  incontrovertible  criteria  of  the  strict  unity  of  the  whole  which 
is  not  to  be  doubted  even  where  particular  portions  seem  not  to  cohere  so  well  together,  or  where 
it  remains  uncertain  to  which  of  the  actors  a  sentence  or  series  of  sentences  is  to  be  assigned.  TLf 
whole  is  really  a  TE/,  a  song  or  poem,  i.  «..  not  a  carmen  (a  lyric  poem,  hymn  or  ode),  to  be 
»ung  with  instrumental  accompaniment — in  which  case  it  would  have  been  called  "'10|0  rather- 
than  TE?— but  a  poem  of  a  more  comprehensive  kind  and  of  lyrico-dramatic  character,  a  cycle  oi 
erotic  songs,  possessing  unity  of  conception,  and  combined  in  the  unity  of  one  dramatic  action. 
Whether  now  it  be  likened  to  the  bucolic  compositions  of  the  later  Greeks,  and  so  be  esteemed  a 
Hebrew  idyl  or  carmen  amcebsum  (so  Hug,  Heebst  and  older  writers  before  them) ;  or  a  pro- 
per dramatic  character  be  claimed  for  it,  and  on  this  presumption  it  be  maintained  that  it  was 
actually  performed  in  public,  being  both  acted  and  sung  after  the  manner  of  an  opera  (BoTTCHER, 
Renan),  or  at  least  was  designed  for  such  performance  (Ewald)  ;  it  must  at  all  events  be 
maintained  as  scientifically  established  and  confirmed  by  all  the  details  of  its  poetic  execution, 
that  its  plan  and  composition  are  dramatic,  and  consequently  that  the  whole  belongs  to  the  dra- 
matic branch  of  the  Old  Testament  Chokmah-  (HOjn)  literature,  and  is  the  representative  of  the 
lyrico-draraatic  (melo-dramatic)  poetry  of  the  0.  T.,  as  the  Book  cf  Job  is  the  principal  specimen 
of  the  epico-dramatic  (didactic  dialogue).  Comp.  the  Introduction  to  the  Solomonic  Wisdom-lit- 
erature in  general  (in  commentary  on  Proverbs),  §5  and  10. 

Remark  1. — Against  the  attempt  of  Ibn  Ezra,  Kimchi  and  other  Rabbins  to  explain 
D"l'tyn  Tiy  as  meaning  "  a  song  of  the  songs  "  may  be  urged  not  only  the  analogy  of  the  e.\- 
pressions  above  adduced  as  "  heaven  of  heavens,"  etc.,  but  also  the  fact  that  this  partitive  sense 
would  have  to  be  expressed  by  D'^'i^no  Ti^.  The  expression  "  a  song  of  the  songs  of  Solomon  '' 
would  also  have  been  strangely  pleonastic,  and  have  conflicted  unduly  with  the  analogy  of  the 
titles  to  the  Psalms,  which  never  contain  more  than  the  simple  1'E^  (or  "'10."?,  or  "'in'O  Tiff). — 
On  the  other  hand,  it  makes  against  the  interpretation  :  "  a  song  of  songs,"  i.  e.,  "  a  collection  of 
several  songs,  a  chain  of  songs  "  (Kleuker,  Sammhmg  der  Gedichte  Salomo's,  sonst  das  Hohehed 
genannt,  1780,  p.  6  f.;  Auodsti,  Einleitung,  p.  213),  that  then  1'C'  would  have  an  entirely  different 
sense  the  first  time  from  that  it  has  the  second,  as  though  it  were  synonymous  with  the  Chald. 
Tty,  "  chain,"  and  with  the  corresponding  Arabic  word,  and  signified  "  series  "  (so  Velthdsen  and 

CBllent  of  all  songs  that  Solomon  made;  yit  llieClmUIee  piirriphrjisc"  and  abundance  of  Christian  writers  think  it  called  the 
moBt  excelli-nt  song,  with  respect  liliewisc  to  all  the  scmBS  that  hud  been  formerly  made  by  any  prophetical  person,  hh 
tho.^e,  Ex.  XV.;  Jiidg.  v.;  1  Sam.  ii.,  etc.,  becaufle  tln:y  celebrated  only  some  particular  benefits,  this  the  immense  love  of  God, 
not  only  townrds  that  nation,  but  towiirds  all  mankind."  Poole:  "The  most  excellent  of  all  songs,  whether  composed  by 
profane  or  sacred  authors,  by  Solomon  or  by  any  other."] 


I  1.  NAME  AND  ARTISTIC  FORM  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  8 

Pauhjs,  in  Eichhobn's  Repertorium  XVII.,  p.  109  f.).*  This  would  the  more  conflict  with  He- 
brew usage  because  this  language  has  a  special  fondness  for  the  combination  of  a  noun  in  the 
singular  with  a  dependent  plural  of  like  signification  to  denote  the  superlative.  Comp.  Ewald, 
Lehrb.,  i  313,  c.  [Green's  Heb.  Oram.,  I  254,  2,  a]. — On  Solomon's  authorship  indicated  by 
T\'a^\ah  it?x  comp.  1 3  below. 

Remaek  2. — The  unity  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  has  been  repeatedly  contested  in  recent  times. 
Herdee  ("  Lieder  der  Liebe,  die  dltesten  und  schbusten  aus  dem  Morgenlande,"  1778)  was  fol- 
lowed in  this  direction  not  only  by  Goethe  (in  the  "  Westdstlicher  Divan"  at  least,  whilst  sub- 
sequently in  his  "Kunst  und  Alierlhum  "  he  declared  for  Umbreit's  view  that  the  whole  pos- 
sessed dramatic  unity),  but  also  by  most  of  the  theological  commentators  and  critics  down  to  the 
20th  year  of  the  present  century,  particularly  Eichhorn,  Bertholdt,  Augusti,  de  Wette,  in 
their  Introductions  to  the  Old  Test.:  Kleuker,  Gaab,  Doderlein,  Gesenids,  Paulus,  Dopke, 
and  many  others.  And  at  a  still  later  period,  after  Ewald  (1826),  Koesteb  (in  Pelt's  "The*- 
logisehe  Mil.arbeilen,"  1839),  Umbreit  (" Erinnerung  an  das  hohe  Lied,"  1839)  and  others  had 
contended  for  the  unity  of  the  poem  with  considerable  energy  and  success,  Ed.  Isid.  Magnus 
(Kritische  Bearbeitung  %md  Erhldrung  des  Hohenliedes  Salomo's,  Halle,  1842)  with  the  great- 
est expenditure  of  acuteness  and  learning  sought  to  prove  that  the  whole  originated  from  uniting 
a  number  of  erotic  songs  and  sonnets  in  an  anthology.  This  "  floral  collection  "  contains  acconl- 
ing  to  him  fourteen  complete  odes  besides  a  number  of  fragments,  which  may  all  but  one  (ii.  15, 
fragment  of  a  drinking  song)  be  combined  into  three  longer  odes,  together  with  two  later  sup- 
plements to  two  of  these  17  or  18  pieces,  thus  making  in  all  twenty  distinguishable  constituent 
parts,  independent  from  one  another  in  origin,  and  produced  by  several  different  poets  at  various 
periods.  The  seeming  microscopic  exactness  of  this  investigation  of  Magnus  made  an  impres- 
sion upon  several  of  the  later  critics,  notwithstanding  the  evidently  arbitrary  manner  in  which  the 
separate  portions  of  the  text  "  are  shaken  up  together  at  pleasure  like  the  bits  of  colored  stone  in 
a  kaleidoscope."  Theod,  Mundt,  in  his  "Allgem.  Literalurgeschichte,"  1849  (L,  153)  considers 
it  settled  that  the  Song  of  Solomon  is  an  anthology  of  disconnected  popular  erotic  songs.  E.  \V. 
LossNER  (Salomo  und  Sulamilh  1851)  in  his  exegesis  of  the  Song  chiefly  proposes  to  himself 
the  task  of  "  inventing  some  connection  between  the  fragments  thrown  together  in  wild  con- 
fusion." And  Bleek  in  his  "Mnleilung  in's  A.  T."  (2d  edit.,  1865,  p.  641),  edited  by  Kamp- 
HAUSEN,  thinks  that  with  the  admission  that  the  whole,  as  it  now  exists,  proceeded  from  one  re- 
dactor, he  must  connect  the  assumption  "  that  it  contams  sundry  erotic  songs,"  songs,  too,  only 
a  part  of  which  were  composed  with  reference  to  Solomon,  the  greater  portion  having  "  relation  to 
persons  of  the  condition  of  shepherds,!  and  m  the  country." — The  interpolation-hypolhesis  of 
the  two  Jewish  interpreters,  A.  Rebenstein  and  Dan.  Sanders,  is  likewise  based  upon  at  least 
a  partial  dissection  of  the  poem,  the  former  of  whom,  in  his  "Lied  der  Lieder''  (1834),  the  latter 
in  Busch's  "Jahrbiich.  der  IsraelUen,"  1845, and  in  his  little  treatise  lately  issued,  "das  Hohe- 
lied  Salonionis"  (Leipzig,  0.  Wigand,  1866),  maintain  that  at  least  chap.  iii. — either  the  entire 
chapter,  as  Rebenstein  imagines,  or  its  first  five  verses,  as  Sanders  makes  it — and  the  con- 
cluding verses  viii.  8-14  are  later  insertions,  and  that  the  book  "purged"  of  these  alleged  spu- 
rious additions  contains  four  songs  relating  to  Solomon's  love  for  Shulamitli  and  so  far  connected, 
but  which  are  now  out  of  their  original  order  and  somewhat  divided.  These  four  songs  or  sec- 
tions of  the  "  Idyl"  are  :  1)  ch.  i.  1-6  ;  viii.  12 ;  i.  7 — li.  6  ;  2)  ch.  li.  7-17  ;  iv.  1 — v.  1 ;  3)  ch.  v. 
2— vi.  10 ;  4)  ch.  iii.  6-11  :  vi.  11— viii.  7. 

*  [So  Good  :  *'  Tlie  word  TK'-  in  the  present  ami  most  other  instances  trauslated  snng,  nieans  in  ita  original  accoptatiuu 
'  a  string  or  chain;'  it  is  precisely  synonymous  with  the  Greek  tretpa.  The  diffr-rent  idyls  presented  in  the  collection  br- 
fore  us  were  therefore  probably  regarded  by  the  sacred  poet,  at  the  time  of  their  composition,  as  so  many  distinct  beads  or 
pearls,  of  which  the  whole,  when  strung  together,  constituted  one  perfect  TC'i  f-tring,  catenation  or  divan."] 

f  [Good  regards  the  Song  '*  as  a  collection  of  [12]  distinct  idyls  upon  one  common  subject — and  that  the  loves  of  thn  11.-- 
brew  monarch  and  his  fair  bride.  *  *  *  The  author  of  these  exquisite  amoreta  was  King  Solomon."  Fry  also  finds  in  the 
Sung  "  a  number  of  distinct  pieces  "  proceeding,  it  is  true,  from  a  common  author,  and  having  "  some  unity  of  design  in  re- 
gard of  the  mystic  sense  which  they  are  intended  to  bear."  But  the  parties  described  are  not  the  same  throughout. 
'■Though  King  Solomon  is  mentioned,  and  his  marriage  processions  perhajis  gave  occasion  to  some  of  these  allegories,  yet 
the  scene  is  every  now  and  then  changed,  and  we  are  led  to  contemplate  the  intercourse  and  concerns  of  some  rural 
or  domestic  pair  in  humble  life."  Noyes  agrees  Bubstantially  with  Fay,  but  without  admitting  the  existence  of  a  mystical 
eense. — Tr.] 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


The  internal  grounds  for  the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  whole,  as  they  have  been  recently  put 
together  by  Delitzsch  particularly  ("  das  Buhelied  unlersuchl  und  ausgelegt,''  Leipz.,  1851,  p. 
4  S.),  following  up  the  previous  presentation  of  them  by  Ewald,  Umbreit,  etc.  (see  above)  are 
decisive  against  all  these  fragmentary  and  crumbling  hypotheses,  not  to  speak  of  the  uniformity 
throughout  of  the  style  of  the  language  (of  which  more  particularly  in  ^  4).  The  first  five  and 
the  weightiest  of  these  grounds  are:  1)  The  name  of  Solomon  runs  through  the  whole,  i.  5;  iii. 
7,  9,  11 ;  viii.  11, 12;  those  passages  also  are  to  be  included,  in  which  he  and  no  other  is  called 
■jSan,  "  the  king,"  i.  4, 12;  comp.  vii.  6.  2)  Throughout  the  whole  there  appears  in  addition  to 
the  lover  and  his  beloved  a  chorus  of  D''7BnT  niJ3,  "  daughters  of  Jerusalem."  These  are  ad- 
dressed i.  5  ;  ii.  7  ;  iii.  5 ;  v.  8,  16 ;  viii.  4  ;  and  in  lii.  10  something  is  said  about  them.  This 
shows  the  sameness  in  the  dramatic  constitution  of  the  whole.  3)  Throughout  the  whole  men- 
tion is  only  made  of  the  mother  of  the  beloved,  i.  6  ;  iii  4 ;  viii.  2,  (5),  never  of  her  father.  4) 
Distinct  portions  of  the  whole  begm  and  end  with  the  same  or  similar  words  in  the  style  of  a  re- 
frain. A  new  paragraph  begins  three  times  with  the  question  of  surprise,  U1  PNt  'D,  "  Who  is 
this,"  etc.,  iii.  6;  vi.  10;  viii.  5;  the  adjuration  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  not  to  waken 
[her]  love  three  times  forms  the  conclusion,  ii  6  f.;  iii.  5  :  viii.  3  f.  So  the  summons  to  the  lover 
to  spring  over  the  mountains  like  a  gazelle  manifestly  stands  twice  at  the  end  of  a  section,  ii. 
17,  comp.  8;  and  viii.  14.  5)  The  whole  is  permeated  too  by  declarations  on  the  part  of  the 
maiden  concerning  her  relation  to  her  lover  which  are  couched  in  identical  terms.  Twice  she 
says  "  My  beloved  is  mine  and  I  am  his,  who  feeds  among  the  roses,"  ii.  16;  vi.  3;  twice  "I 
am  sick  of  love,"  ii.  5;  v.  8 ;  and  not  only  in  iii.  1,  2,  3,  4,  but  as  far  back  as  i.  7  she  calls  her 
lover  'tySJ  n^nssy  "  he  whom  my  soul  loves."  Likewise  the  address  of  the  chorus  to  the  be- 
loved runs  in  a  uniform  strain,  i.  8 ;  v.  9  ;  vi.  1,  "  thou  fairest  among  women." — The  last  of  these 
arguments  contains  (as  does  also  No.  1)  a  special  refutation  of  Rebenstein's  and  Sanders'  ob- 
jections to  the  genuineness  or  integrity  of  Ch.  3.  What  are  regarded  as  well  by  these  critics  as 
by  the  rest  of  those  who  impugn  the  unity  of  this  book,  as  repetitions  or  imitations  by  a  later 
hand,  are  shown  by  a  true  insight  into  the  dramatic  composition  of  the  whole  to  be  the  necessary 
repetition  of  certain  characteristic  formulas  purposely  made  by  the  poet  himself  And  as  well 
in  this  as  in  all  other  respects  the  final  judgment  passed  by  Delitzsch,  p.  6,  upon  the  whole 
controversy  respecting  the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  seems  to  be  abundantly 
justified  :  "He  who  has  any  perception  whatever  of  the  unity  of  a  work  of  art  in  human  dis- 
course, will  receive  an  impression  of  external  unity  from  the  Song  of  Solomon,  which  excludes 
all  right  to  sunder  any  thing  from  it  as  of  a  heterogeneous  character  or  belonging  to  different 
periods,  and  which  compels  to  the  conclusion  of  an  internal  unity,  that  may  still  remain  an  enigma 
to  the  Scripture  exposition  of  the  present,  but  must  nevertheless  exist."  Comp.  also  Vaihinger, 
del-  Prediger  und  das  Hohelied,  p.  258  f. 

Remark  3.  In  respect  to  the  poetic  and  artistic  form  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  provided  its 
unity  is  admitted,  and  due  regard  is  paid  to  the  dialogue  character  of  the  discourse,  there  are  on 
tlie  whole  but  two  views,  that  can  possibly  be  entertained,  that  it  is  an  idyl  or  bucolic  carmen 
amcebcBum,  and  that  it  is  a  proper  drama  though  with  a  prevailing  lyric  and  erotic  character 
The  former  supposition  was  adopted  by  some  of  the  older  interpreters  mentioned  by  Carpzov,  In- 
trod.  in  lihros  canonicos  V.  T.,  and  after  them  by  L.  Hug  ("  das  Hohelied  in  einer  noch  unver- 
■'iuchten  Deuluyij,"  1813,  and  " Schulzschrift"  1816),  who  urges  in  its  favor  (he  rural  and 
pastoral  character  of  most  of  the  scenes  and  the  prevalence  of  the  same  form  of  alternate  discuuree 
between  two  lovers.  He  has,  however,  remained  almost  alone  among  modern  students  of  the 
Old  Test,  in  this  opinion  as  well  as  in  the  allegorical  and  political  explanation  of  the  Song  con- 
nected with  it,  as  though  it  were  a  colloquy  between  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel  and  the  King  of 
Judah.  Only  another  catholic,  Herbst  (Einleilang  in's  ^.  7!,  edited  by  Welte,  1842)  sub- 
stantially agrees  with  him;  and  the  idyllic  form  of  the  whole  as  a  group  of  twelve  songs  or 
scenes  is  likewise  maintained  by  A.  Heiligstedt  in  his  continuation  of  Maurer's  Oommentar. 
Gramm.  Crit.in  V.  T-,  (IV.  2,  1848).     The  decisive  consideration  against  this  idyllic  hypothesis* 

*[Sir  William  .Tones  ^followed  by  Good,  Frt  and  Noyes):  SaUimonis  sanctissimum  carmen  intfr  idyllia  Rebraa  rectnsen- 
dum  puto.  Taylor  entitles  the  several  divisions  of  tlio  Soug  "  eclogues,"  but  like  Bossukt  and  Percy  regiirds  the  whole  a*  » 
yaatural  (traiua. — Ta.] 


I  1.  NAME  AND  ARTISTIC  FORM  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  S 

is  the  constant  change  of  scene  in  the  Song,  the  frequent  transfer  of  the  locality  from  the 
country  to  the  citv,  and  from  Solomon's  palace  to  Sbulamith's  homestead,  also  the  repeated 
change  of  actors  and  tlie  unequal  length.of  the  intervals  of  time  between  the  several  scenes. 
All  these  peculiarities  are  foreign  to  the  nature  of  the  idyl  or  pastoral  poem,  and  agree  better 
with  the  view  that  the  Song  is  a  proper  drama.  The  dialogue  scenes,  separated  in  time  and 
place,  are  closely  connected  together  by  their  common  reference  to  one  and  the  same  loving 
relation  ;  and  with  a  strict  maintenance  of  the  characters  introduced,  though  without  a  proper 
plot,  they  visibly  depict  the  historical  progress  of  the  relation  between  a  royal  lover  and  his 
beloved  raised  from  an  humble  position  to  princely  splendor  and  exaltation.  No  essential 
characteristic  of  dramatic  composition  is  wanting  in  this  poem:  from  beginning  to  end  it  con- 
tains conversations  between  two  or  more  persons  alternating  with  monologues  or  with  narra- 
tions of  what  had  been  said  by  others  ;  a  chorus  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  accompanies  the 
whole  progress  of  the  action  and  takes  part  in  it ;  the  several  scenes  are  more  or  less  plainly 
separated  from  one  another,  and  at  certain  principal  points,  at  least,  are  distinguished  by  the  re- 
currence of  final  or  initial  refrains.  Only  we  must  not  go  so  far  in  maintaining  the  dramatic 
character  of  the  piece  as  to  allege  with  Ewald  [d.poet.  Bucher  des  A.  Bds.  2  Aufl  1866,  I.  73 
ff.)  that  it  was  actually  designed  for  public  representation,  or  even  with  Bottcher  ("  die  dl- 
testen  Buhnendichlungen"  Leipz.,  1850;  and  "  Neue  exegelisch-krit.  Aehrenlese"  3.  Abtheil. 
1865,  p.  76  ff.)  and  Renan  (Xe  Canlique  des  Cantiques,  p.  83  ff.)  that  it  was  actually  exhibited 
in  the  form  of  a  play  to  be  sung  and  accompanied  by  mimic  acting,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  style 
of  the  Sicilian-Dorian  mimes,  the  Etruscan  fescennines,  the  Carapanian  and  old  Roman  fabul<e 
Atellanse,  etc.  In  opposition  to  such  an  exaggeration  of  the  dramatical  view  into  the  grossly 
realistic,  HiTzm's  remark  {das  Hokelied  erklart.  etc.,  p.  7,)  continues  in  force  almost  without 
limitation.  "  If  the  piece  actually  came  upon  the  stage  it  would  be  necessary  for  a  speaker, 
where  the  language  of  other  parties  was  introduced  into  the  midst  of  his  own,  to  change  his 
voice  so  as  actually  to  imitate  the  voices  of  others,  and  not  to  leave  this  distinction  to  the 
imagination  merely:  but  the  cases  occur  too  frequently  (ii.  10-15;  v.  2,  3;  vi.  10  ;  vii.  1,)  and 
the  matter  appears  quite  too  complicated  for  this  to  be  credible.  The  author  would  also  as- 
sume the  place  of  the  chorus,  and  take  part  himself  in  the  play;  v.  1  6,  (?? — see  against  this 
improbable  view  \  2,  Remark  1,  p.  8) ;  but  then  the  piece  also  ceases  to  be  objective  to  him, 
i.  e.,  to  be  a  drama  to  him.  The  poem  certainly  has  a  dramatic  structure ;  but  ii.  8  already 
proves  that  the  author  has  not  the  power  to  continue  in  so  objective  an  attitude,  and  he  slides 
into  the  more  convenient  path  of  description  and  narration.  The  action  is  often  hidden  behind  an 
imperfect  dialogue ;  and  this  is  easily  superseded  by  a  prolonged  discourse  requiring  no  an- 
swer; or  if  one  is  made,  it  is  slim  and  scanty  (vii.  11;  iv.  16).  Finally  one  may  well  ask,  if 
the  piece  were  actually  performed,  what  would  be  its  moral  eflfect,  which  must  have  been  fore- 
seen, and  therefore  intended?  Would  not  vii.  2-10  represented  on  the  stage  have  transferred 
ihe  illicit  desires*  of  the  speaker  to  the  soul  of  the  spectators?  How  could  the  sensuality  of 
the  auditor  excited  by  iv.  9,  10,  12  ff.,  be  prevented  from  taking  lire  even  in  an  extra-nuptial 
direction  ?  The  Song  of  Solomon  is  a  drama  which  the  poet  saw  in  the  spirit,  as  the  apoca- 
lyptic (prophets)  Daniel  and  John  had  a  series  of  scenes  pass  before  their  spiritual  eye." — De- 
LiTZsce,  too,  emphasizes  in  opposition  to  Bottcher's  view  of  the  mimic  performance  of  the  Song 
of  Solomon  in  the  form  of  a  rude  and  "  unenviable  "  stage  play  of  the  times  of  the  Israelitish 
kings,  the  ideal  character  of  its  artistic  and  dramatic  form,  and  the  morally  pure  and  elevated 
spirit  which  it  manifestly  breathes  from  beginning  to  end.  He  put^  it,  herein  following  the  lead 
of  LowTH  (de  sacra  poesi  Hebr.  jincl.  30  ff.,  and  Ewald  (Poet.  B.,  1st.  edit.,  I.  40  ff.,  Comp. 
2d  edit.,  I.  73)  as  a  representative  of  the  .sacred  comedy  of  the  Old  Test.,  beside  the  book  of 
Job  as  the  chief  product  of  the  tragic  art  of  the  0.  T.  people  of  God.  This  designation  may  be 
allowed  to  pass  as  appropriate  in  the  general,  and  not  liable  to  be  misunderstood.  Nevertheless 
the  essential  character  of  the  artistic  form  employed  in  this  composition  seems  to  be  more  ac- 
curately designated  by  the  expression  "melodrama"  (v.  Ammon)  or  lyrico-dramatic  poetry,  in- 
usmuch  as  the  relalion  of  this  form  to  that  of  the  book  of  Job  (as  the  epico-dramatic,  or  didactic- 
dramatic)  is  thus  not  only  strikingly  brought  out,  but  also  those  defects  and  imperfections  pointed 

*[rhe3e  bi'loiig  to  his  own  sensual  interpretation,  not  to  the  Sonj;  itiself. — Tk.] 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


out  in  the  passage  cited  above  from  Hitzig  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  dramatic  form,  which  is 
often  exchanged  for  the  purely  lyric,  are  thus  accounted  for. 

§  2.      CONTENTS   AND    DIVISIONS  (CONSTITUTION)    OF   THE   SONG   OF  SOLOMON. 

The  Song  of  Solomon  begins  with  a  responsive  Song  between  the  chorus  of  the  daughters  ol 
.Jerusalem  and  Shulamith,  a  simple  country  maid  from  Shulem  or  Shunem*  in  the  north  of  Pal- 
estine (see  vii.  1)  who,  for  her  beauty,  was  chosen  by  Solomon  to  be  his  bride,  and  brought  to 
the  royal  palace  in  Jerusalem.  With  plain  and  lovely  discourse,  corresponding  to  the  artless 
disposition  of  an  unspoiled  child  of  nature,  she  avows  both  her  ardent  love  for  her  royal  bride- 
ijronra,  and  her  longing  for  her  native  fields,  whose  spicy  freshness  and  simpler  style  of  life  she 
prefers  to  the  haughty  splendor  of  court  life,  and  especially  to  being  associated  with  the  great 
number  of  ladies  in  the  royal  palace  (these  are  the  daughters  of  -Jerusalem),  i.  2-8.  These 
feelings  of  love  and  of  home-sickness  which  simultaneously  assail  her  heart,  she  hereupon  ex- 
presses likewise  to  Solomon  himself,  with  whom,  after  the  exit  of  the  chorus  of  those  ladies,  she 
is  left  alone  in  the  "house  of  wine,"  one  of  the  inmost  rooms  of  the  palace,  i.  9 — ii.  7. — Re- 
turned to  her  country  home  (and  this,  it  would  appear,  with  .the  approval  of  her  royal  lover), 
she  finds  herself  still  more  ardently  in  love  with  him,  and  reveals  her  longing  for  a  union  with 
him  ii.  8 — iii.  5,  by  relating  two  episodes  from  the  previous  history  of  their  love,  tnz.,  their  first 
meeting  fii.  9-14)  and  a  subsequent  search  for  him,  and  finding  him  again  (iii.  1-4). — Not  long 
after  the  king  really  comes  out  for  her,  and  has  her  brought  home  with  great  pomp  and  princely 
lionors  as  his  royal  spouse.  Her  festive  entry  into  the  royal  palace  excites  the  admiring  curi- 
osity, astonishment,  and  enthusiasm  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  (iii.  6-11).  The  cordial 
love,  which  her  newly  married  husband  shows  her,  makes  her  forget  her  home-sickness,  and 
causes  her  to  enter  with  her  whole  heart  into  the  rapturous  rejoicings  of  the  wedding  feast  (iv. 
1 — V.  1).  But  the  heaven  of  her  happiness  is  soon  darkened  anew.  A  distressing  dream  (v. 
2-7)  mirrors  to  her  the  loss,  nay  the  desertion  of  her  husband;  and  soon  after  the  way  in 
which  he  mentions  his  numerous  concubines,  with  whom  she  is  to  share  his  love  (vi.  8),  in  the 
midst  of  his  caresses  and  flattering  speeches  (vi.  4-9)  shows  her  that  she  can  never  feel  happy 
in  the  voluptuous  whirl  of  his  court  life  already  degenerated  into  the  impure.  Hence  her  long- 
ing for  the  quiet  and  innocent  simplicity  of  her  rural  home  is  awakened  more  strongly  than 
ever  before,  and  drives  her  to  entreat  her  lover  to  remove  thither  with  her  altogether,  that 
as  at  once  a  husband  and  a  brother,  he  may  belong  exclusively  to  her  (v.  2 — viii.  4).  Over- 
come by  her  charms  and  loveliness,  Solomon  yields  and  grants  her  her  humble  request  to 
become  a  plain  shepherdess  and  vinedresser  again,  instead  of  a  queen  surrounded  by  pomp  and 
.splendor.  He  even  takes  part  in  the  merry  sport  and  innocent  raillery  with  which  she  pleases 
herself  in  her  old  accustomed  way  in  the  circle  of  her  brothers  and  sister  (one  little  sister  and 
several  grown  up  brothers),  and  joins  in  the  spirited  encomium  upon  the  all-conquering  and 
even  death-exceeding  power  of  wedded  love  and  fidelity  (viii.  6-8),  by  which,  with  a  thankful 
heart,  she  celebrates  her  return  home  (viii.  5-14). 

This  simple  action,  almost  entirely  free  from  exciting  complications  and  contrasts,  is  divide  1 
by  the  poet  into  five  acts,  of  which  the  next  to  the  last  (v.  2 — viii.  4)  is  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  rest  from  its  disproportionate  length,  but  yet  cannot  well  be  divided  into  two,  beoause  no 
proper  point  of  division  can  be  found  eitlier  at  vi.  9,  10,  or  at  vii.  1.  Instead  of  the  number 
six,  maintained  by  Delitzsch,  we  shall,  therefore,  with  Ewald,  Bottchee  and  others  have  to  af- 
firm the  existence  of  five  principal  scenes  or  sections  of  the  piece.  And  in  substantial  adhe- 
rence to  the  only  correct  view  of  the  aim  and  constitution  of  the  whole  as  given  by  Delitzsch, 
we  shall  have  to  assign  the  following  characteristic  titles  or  statements  of  contents  to  these  five 
acts: — 1)  Chap.  i.  2 — ii,  7.  The  first  time  the  lovers  were  together  at  the  royal  palace  in  (or 
near)  Jerusalem.  2)  Chap.  ii.  8 — iii.  5.  The  first  meeting  of  the  lovers,  related  by  Shulamith, 
who  has  returned  to  her  home.  -3)  Chap.  iii.  6 — v.  1.  The  solemn  bringing  of  the  bride,  and 
the  marriage  at  Jerusalem.     4)  Chap.  v.  2 — viii,  4.    Shulamith's  longing  reawakened  for  her 

*  Tlio  identity  of  these  two  form-s  of  the  nunn'  is  alrendy  vouched  for  by  Eusebids,  Onmnast.  s.  ik  SouA^^,  comp.  Ewald, 
LfJirh.  I  l.')C,  ■:,  ;aj3ax.  Lex.  uoiler  the  letter  7J. 


g  2.  CONTENTS  AND  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON,  7 

home.     5)  chap.  viii.  S-l-t.  The  return  home  and  the  triumph  of  the  chaste  love  of  the  wife  over 
the  unchiiste  feelings  of  her  royal  husband.* 

Remark  1.  According  to  the  ordinary  erotic  and  historical  interpretation  of  the  Song  of  Solo- 
mon, as  it  has  been  developed  particularly  by  Umbreit,  Ewald,  Hitzig,  Vaihinger  and  Re- 
nan,  after  the  previous  suggestions  of  Jacobi,  Ammon,  Staudlin,  etc.,  (comp.  §G)  Shulamith 
is  in  love  not  with  Solomon,  but  with  a  young  shepherd  of  her  country  home,  from  whom  the 
wanton  king,  after  getting  her  in  his  harem  by  force  or  fraud  (i.  4;  comp.  vi.  11,  12)  seeks  to 
alienate  her  by  all  sorts  of  inducements  and  seductive  arts.  But  the  maid,  by  her  pure  love  to  her 
'quondam  playmate,  resists  all  the  enticements  which  the  king  brings  to  bear  upon  her,  partly 
through' the  medium  of  tlie  ladies  of  his  court,  and  partly  in  person  by  his  own  flattering  speeches 
and  several  times  by  direct  and  violent  assaults  upon  her  virtue  [e.  g.,  iv.  9  ff. ;  vii.  2-10).  Con- 
vinced of  the  fidelity  of  her  devotion  to  her  distant  lover  Solomon  is  at  length  obliged  to  dismiss 
her  to  her  home,  whitheraccording  to  Staudlin,  Kenan  and  Hitzig  she  is  taken  by  her  affianced, 
who  has  meanwhile  hastened  to  her  on  the  wings  of  love  (vii.  12  ff. — ?),  whilst  Umbreit,  Ewald 
and  others  prefer  to  leave  it  undecided  how  she  returned  from  Jerusalem  to  Sbulem.  and  con- 
ceive of  her  in  viii.  5  ff.  as  suddenly  and  in  some  unexplained  way  transported  agdin  to  the  en- 
virons of  her  home  and  to  the  side  of  her  lover. — This  view,  according  to  which  the  whole  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  "  tribute  of  praise  to  an  innocence  which  withstands  every  allurement/'  as  a 
"  song  of  praise  to  a  pure,  guileless,  faithful  love,  which  no  splendor  can  dazzle,  and  no  flattery 
ensnare"  ( Ewald), Beeras  to  be  chiefly  favored  by  some  expressions  of  Shulamith  in  chap,  i.,  as 
well  as  here  and  there  in  what  follows,  which  at  first  sight  have  the  look  of  passionate  exclama- 
tions to  her  distant  lover ;  so  particularly  i.  4,  *'  Draw  me  after  thee,  then  we  will  run,'*  and  i.  7, 
'■  0  tell  me,  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth,  where  feedest  thou?"  etc.  Comp.  also  iv.  16 ;  v.  10  ; 
vi.  2,  etc.  But  everything  is  much  simpler  both  in  these  passages  and  generally  in  the  whole 
poem,  if  Shulamith's  avowals  of  love  are  in  all  cases  referred  to  the  king  himself,  and  accord- 
ingly the  object  of  her  longing  as  expressed,  e.  g,,  in  i.  6f. ;  ii.  1,  3  ff. ;  vi.  11,  12 ;  vii.  12  ff.,  is 
conceived  to  be  not  an  absent  lover,  but  only  the  peaceful  quiet  and  beauty  of  her  country  home. 
This  ardent  longing,  or  rather  the  childlike  simplicity  and  humility  which  are  at  the  bottom  of 
it,  lead  her  to  think  of  her  royal  lover  himself  as  though  he  were  a  shepherd  of  her  native  fields, 
and  to  describe  all  his  acts  and  movements,   his  plans  and  occupations,  by  expressions  drawn 

*  [We  cannot  but  concede  to  this  scheme  the  praise  of  great  ingenuity,  particularly  in  the  form  originally  proposed  by 
Delitzsch,  which  was  free  from  some  of  the  objections  that  lie  ag;nnflt  it  as  modified  by  Zockler.  And  yet  it  cannot  have 
escaped  attention  that  the  uniting  links  are  throughout  supplied  by  the  interfireter  and  not  found  in  the  Song  itself.  It 
ia  at  lit-st  but  a  plausible  hypothesis,  and  it  only  requires  thf  application  of  like  ingenuity  to  devise  any  number  of  othera 
materially  differing  froii  it,  yet  equally  entitled  to  regard.  The  story  sugg'-sted  above  is,  after  all,  only  a  rum;ince  of  the 
modern  commentator  with  the  elements  of  the  Song  woven  in  to  suit  his  convenience  or  his  taste. 

There  would  be  no  serious  objection,  perhaps,  to  this  or  any  other  fanciful  combination  of  the  statements  or  intimations 
of  the  poem,  if  it  were  not  for  the  bias  it  creates  in  the  mind  of  the  interpreter,  however  unconscious  he  may  be  of  it,  and 
ttie  temptation  to  which  it  subjects  him  to  explnin  every  thing  in  harm -ny  with  his  preconceived  scheme.  The  return 
hi)niL'  between  ii.  7  and  S,  the  marriage  ceremony  between  chap.  iii.  and  iv.,  the  desire  to  return  home  in  vii.  11,  etc.,  tic, 
)iin«t  all  be  fuppliel.  That  the  temporary  interruption  of  the  l-^vin?  relation  between  the  bridegroom  and  his  bride  was 
line  to  the  inronstancy  of  the  former  (one  of  the  modifications  hy  Zockler,  which  is  certainly  not  an  improvement)  is  not 
only  purely  imaginary,  but  at  variance  with  the  evident  suggestions  of  the  book,  e.  g.,  v.  3,  and  leads  to  a  distortion  of  its 
wlioie  idea.  What  is  fij:urative  in  the  Song,  and  what  is  literal  in  its  primary  application,  ii  also  determined  mainly  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  scheme  with  which  the  interpreter  sets  out.  Thus  Zocklfr,  who  views  the  bride  as  a  country 
maiden,  insists  on  the  strict  literality  of  all  that  is  sad  of  h^r  rural  occupations  or  pleasures,  while  admitting  that  the 
pastoral  employments  of  the  king  i.  7  are  only  figurative,  and  explains  away  the  statement  vii.  1  that  she  is  a  prince's 
daughter.  They,  who  identify  the  bride  with  the  daughter  o*"  Pharaoh,  urge  the  literality  of  vii.  1.  and  convert  her  vine- 
yard, etc.,  into  figures  WiTHiNoros  in  favor  of  his  notion  that  she  i^  a  Sheikh's  daughter  and  bred  in  rural  life,  claims 
that  there  is  no  figure  in  either  ca«p,  since  both  may  be  adjusted  in  their  literal  sense  in  his  hypothesis. 

The  numerous  and  persistent  attempt.'*  to  discover  a  r'>gular  plot  or  a  con^ecufive  etorv  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  havrt 
thus  far  failed  so  signally,  that  the  words  of  TnRipp  in  the  present  st.ite  of  the  question  at  least,  seem  to  be  justified  :  "It  is 
indeMl  only  by  constraint  that  the  Song  can  be  viewed  as  a  drama  conforming  to  the  rules  of  outward  dramatic  unity."  It 
is  one  continuous  composition,  preserving  thronghnut  the  same  theme,  the  love  of  king  Solomon  and  his  bride,  the  image 
of  a  divine  and  spiritual  love.  But  the  scenes  portmyed  and  the  displays  of  mutual  fondness  mdulged  seem  to  be  grouped 
i.ither  than  linked.  They  stand  forth  in  their  distinctness  as  exquisit^'ly  beantiful  and  reflecting  as  much  light  on  each 
othfrand  on  the  subject  which  they  illustrate  ani  adorn.  »s  though  they  had  been  gathere  1  up  into  the  artificial  unity  of 
a  consecutive  narration  or  a  ilramatir  plot.  And  this  looser  m'?thod  of  arrangenjent  or  ac:grecation  with  its  abrupt  tran- 
Bition»*  and  sudden  changes  of  scene,  is  no  less  graceful  and  impressive,  while  it  i?  mofe  in  harmony  with  the  oriental  mind 
and  style  of  composition  generally,  than  the  rigorous,  external  and  formal  concatenation  which  the  more  logical  but  lea« 
fervid  Indo-^'Oropean  is  prone  to  demand. — Te.J 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


from  rural  and  pastoral  life  (see  i.  7,  13,  14,  17;  ii.  3ff.,  8  ff.,  16  f.;  v.  10  ff. ;  vi.  2f.).  She 
continues  this  until  her  eager  desires  are  finally  granted,  and  her  royal  lover,  vanquished  by  the 
power  and  sincerity  of  her  love,  follows  her  to  her  quiet  home,  leaving  all  the  luxurious  splendor 
and  voluptuousness  of  his  court  in  order  to  live  as  a  shepherd  among  shepherds,  and  "  like  a  roe 
or  a  young  hart  on  the  mountains  of  spices  "  (viii.  14)  to  participate  in  the  innocent  amusements 
of  Shulamith  and  her  brothers  and  sister.  This  happy  decision  is  brought  about  mainly  by  the 
glowing  earnestness  of  Shulamith's  language  in  vii.  10  fF.,  in  which  her  love  for  Solomon  and  her 
homesickness  are  both  most  strongly  and  most  movingly  expressed.  Several  things  in  this  ad- 
dress of  hers  are  unaccountable  upon  any  other  view  of  the  whole  than  that  which  is  here  pre- 
sented, especially  the  wish  "  0  that  thou  wert  to  me  as  a  brother,"  etc.  (viii.  1),  and  likewise  the 
exhortation  "  Come  my  beloved,  let  us  go  into  the  country,"  etc.  (vii.  12).  And  many  previous 
expressions  of  Shulamith,  as  i.  12 ;  ii.  4  ;  iv.  16,  testify,  with  a  clearness  not  to  be  mistaken,  her 
loving  consent  to  Solomon's  suit,  and  therefore  cannot  without  forcing  be  reconciled  with  the  or- 
dinary profane-erotic  explanation.  It  must  in  particular  be  regarded  as  extremely  forced  when 
EwALD  regards  the  passage  iv.  8 — v.  1  as  a  monologue  of  Shulamith  in  which  she  describes  the 
plighted  love  of  her  distant  lover,  while  nothing  is  clearer  than  that  the  familiar  colloquy  of  the 
bridal  pair  on  their  wedding  day,  which  begins  with  iv.  1,  is  contiaued  in  this  section,  (comp. 
Delitzsch,  p.  33  f.).  Several  of  the  assumptions,  by  which  Hitzio  tries  to  bolster  up  his  pecu- 
liar modifications  of  the  profane-erotic  interpretation  are  quite  as  arbitrary,  e.  g.  the  assertion 
that  ii.  7  ;  iii.  5 ;  viii.  4,  is  the  language  not  of  Shulamith  but  of  the  poet,  who  here  undertakes 
to  perform  the  part  of  the  chorus,  addressed  to  the  "  daughters  of  Jerusalem  "  just  as  in  v.  1  6 
also  the  poet  "puts  himself  forward  "  (  !  ?  )  ;  the  intolerable  harshness  of  regarding  vi.  8  as  an 
expression  of  the  ve.xation  at  the  coy  beauty,  with  which  Solomon  turns  away  from  her  and  back 
again  to  the  ladies  of  his  court  who  are  ready  for  every  kind  of  indulgence;  the  opinion  that  in 
vii.  2-10  Solomon  makes  a  declaration  of  love  not  to  Shulamith,  but  to  some  one  of  his  concu- 
bines, and  that  in  a  vulgar  and  indecent  way;  the  assumption  that  Shulamith's  country  lover 
was  present  in  Jerusalem,  not  only  from  vii.  11,  but  from  iv.  6  onward,  and  was  engaged  in  the 
business  of  taking  his  aifianced  home  from  the  royal  harem,  etc.  Renan,  who  follows  Hitzig  in 
the  main  has  endeavored  to  extend  some  of  these  assumptions  in  a  peculiar  way,  e.  g.,  by  the  as- 
sertion that  the  shepherd  beloved  by  Shulamith,  and  who  hastens  to  release  her  from  the  royal 
harem,  already  comes  upon  the  scene  in  ii.  2;  by  the  romantic  idea  that  the  same  languishing 
shepherd  utters  the  words  iv.  8-15  "  at  the  foot  of  the  tower  of  the  Seraglio,"  in  which  his  be- 
loved is  confined,  is  then  (iv.  16)  admitted  by  her  and  enraptured  exclaims  to  the  chorus  the 
words  V.  1  6. ;  by  the  fantastic  assumption  that  when  finally  released  she  is  carried  home  asleep 
by  her  lover,  and  laid  under  an  apple  tree,  where  she  then  viii.  5  f.,  awakes,  etc.  The  like,  only 
in  some  respects  more  whimsical  in  Bottcher,  die  dllesten  Buhnendiehtimgen,  etc.  The  wide 
divergence  between  these  leading  advocates  of  the  view  which  we  are  opposing,  and  that  in  so 
many  and  by  no  means  unimportant  particulars,  must  give  rise  to  misgivings  with  regard  to  the 
tenability  of  that  fundamental  conception  which  they  have  in  common.  Numerous  other  dis- 
crepancies between  them  as  well  as  between  the  critics  most  nearly  akin  to  them  will  meet  us 
in  the  course  of  the  detailed  exegesis,  and  will  confirm  from  the  most  diverse  quarters  the  impos- 
sibility of  carrying  consistently  through  the  hypothesis  of  two  rival  lovers  of  Shulamith  in  any 
of  its  phases.*     The  view  advocated  by  us  cannot,  it  is  true,  attain  to  absolute  certainty,  such  as 

*  [Thrupp  thii9  exposes  the  want  of  afrreetnijnt  among  the  advocates  of  this  extraonlinary  hypothesis  :  '■  We  find  that 
tlio  pas-iiige  i.  15  is  assi-^ned  by  Ginsburg  t  >  the  aliepherd,  by  H[TZlrt  and  Renan  to  Solomon;  ii.  2  is  assigned  by  Ginsbcbg 
and  Kes\n  to  the  9h«'pherd,  but  by  IllTZio  to  Solomon;  Ginsdcro  makes  the  shepliord  the  speaker  in  iv.  1-5,  and  ver.  7 
to  middle  of  10,  with  part  of  v.  1,  but  Rsnan  gives  iv.  1-7  to  Solomon,  the  remainder  of  the  above  to  the  shepherd,  while 
IIlTZio  gives  iv.  1-5,  7,  0,  10, 12,  ete.,  to  Solomon,  6.  8, 11  to  the  shepherd  ;  vi.  8  is  given  to  Solomon  by  GlX-SBORO  and  HlTZlo 
but  to  the  shepherd  by  R!.skN;  vi.  9  is  given  to  Solomon  by  GiNSBnRO,  but  to  the  shepherd  by  HlTZin  and  RES4N.  How 
little  value  i<  attached  by  Qixsboro  himself  to  his  own  argument  may  he  gathered  from  the  circumstance  that  whereas  he 
assigns  iv.  1-5  to  the  shepherd,  he  yet,  when  this  passage  is  partially  repeated  in  vi.  5-7;  vii.  3.  pnt.s  the  identical  words  into 
the  mouth  of  Polomon.  It  is  clear  that  he  sees  no  fun  laraental  difference  in  the  language  which  his  two  male  characters 
use.  And  it  is  not  pretended  that  they  ever  address  each  other  ;  n'-r  indeed  is  tlier*'  a  single  passage  in  which,  according 
to  any  probable  interpretation,  th  -y  ar<  both  addressed  or  spoken  of  to.jether.  The  distinction  between  them  is  in  fact 
purely  fictitious;  there  is  but  one  male  character  in  the  song,  the  true  beloved." 

In  regard  to  the  introduction  of  new  and  imaginary  speakers,  which  has  been  carried  to  such  extravagant  excess  by 
BiTzio,  the  same  able  writer  pertinently  remarks:    "  It  is  evident  that  sufflcient  ingenuity  might  make  a  complicated 


?  2.  CONTENTS  AND  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  9 

shall  be  perfectly  satisfactory  in  all  respects,  because  the  absence  of  titles  to  the  several  acts,  as 
well  as  to  the  parts  of  each  particular  person,  makes  a  reliable  distribution  of  the  action  amongst 
the  several  parties  impossible  in  many  cases  ;  and  because,  unfortunately,  no  old  and  credible  ac- 
counts of  the  original  meaning  and  origin  of  the  poem,  that  is  to  say  no  correct  explanatory  scho- 
lia are  in  existence.  Thus  much,  however,  can  be  established  with  a  high  degree  of  probability 
that  amonc  the  various  historical  explanations  of  this  drama  that  which  is  here  attempted  by  us 
as  a  modification  of  that  of  Delitzsch  harmonizes  particularly  well  at  once  with  the  contents  of 
the  piece  ascertained  in  an  unprejudiced  manner,  and  with  its  composition  by  Solomon,  which  is 
attested  by  tradition  and  bv  internal  considerations  ;  on  which  account  it  is  to  be  preferred  to  the 
historical  explanation  of  v.  Hofmann,  which  is  kindred  to  it  in  many  respects.  (He  identifies 
the  bride  of  the  song  with  Pharaoh's  daughter,*  celebrated  in  Ps.  xlv.,  and  takes  the  poem  to  be 
a  celebration  of  the  marriage  of  Solomon  and  this  Egyptian  princess,  moving  in  figures  drawn 
from  the  life  of  shepherds  and  vintagers).  See  further  particulars  concerning  and  in  opposition 
to  this  exposition  of  Hofmann  in  Delitzsch.  p.  37  K ;  and  comp.  ^  4  below. 

Remark  2. — The  opinions  of  different  interpreters  also  diverge  considerably  in  respect  to  the 
limits  of  the  several  scene?  and  acts  or  songs,  whilst  the  piece  itself  does  not  furnish  certain  cri- 
teria enough  to  verify  either  one  view  or  another.  Most  of  the  recent  writers  agree  in  as- 
suming about  tenor  twelve  scenes;  but  less  unanimity  prevails  in  regard  to  the  question  how 
these  shorter  scenes  are  to  be  apportioned  among  the  larger  acts,  and  how  many  such  acts  are  to 
be  assumed.  HiTzra  altogether  despairs  of  reducing  the  nine  "scenes"  affirmed  by  him  to  a 
smaller  number  of  acts.  Delitzsch,  Hahn,  and  Weissbach  number  sis  acts  with  two  scene.s 
each.  EwALD  (after  giving  up  the  assumption  of  four  acts  previously  maintained  in  his  com- 
mentary of  1826)  and  with  him  Bottchee,  Renan,  Vaihinger  and  many  others  make  five  acts 
among  which  they  variously  distribute  the  thirteen  to  fifteen  scenes  which  they  assume.  E.  F. 
Friedrich  reckons  four  acts  with  ten  scenes.  And  finally  von  Hofmann  assumes  but  three 
principal  divisions  of  about  the  same  length  (i.  2 — iii.  5;  iii.  6^v.  16;  vi.  1 — viii.  12)  to  which 
he  supposes  a  brief  conclusion  of  but  two  verses  (viii,  13,  1+)  to  be  appended.  The  assumption 
of  five  acts  might  be  recommended  in  the  general  bj'  the  consideration  that  the  action  of  any 
(Ir.ima  by  a  sort  of  necessity  passes  through  five  main  steps  or  stages  in  its  progress  to  its  con- 
summation; whence  we  see  Greek  dramas  invariably,  and  the  old  Indian  at  least  prevailingly 
divided  into  that  number  of  acts,  and  the  dialogue  portion  of  the  book  of  Job,  the  other  chief 
product  of  the  dramatic  art  in  the  Old  Testament  besides  the  Song  of  Solomon,  is  most  clearly 
separated  into  five  divisions  (comp.  E'wxld,  d.  Dichter  d.  A.  Bdi.,  I.  69;  Delitzsch,  d.  £., 
Job,  p.  12,  in  the  "BibL  Commenlar."  by  IvElLand  Del.).  To  this  may  be  added  that  judging  by 
tlie  quintuple  division  of  the  Song  of  S  ilomon  found  in  some  old  Ethiopic  versions,  the  Sept. 
which  is  at  the  basis  of  the^e  vf  rsions  would  seem  to  have  divided  the  book  into  that  number  of 
sections  (Ewald,  Bibl.  Jalrb.  1849,  p.  49),  and  that  exegetical  tradition,  in  so  far  as  it  gives  ma- 
nifold testimony  even  in  the  patristic  period  (e.  g.,  Origen,  Jerome)  to  the  dramatic  character 
of  this  piece,  likewise  confirms,  though  indirectly,  its  separation  into  the  five  customary  divisions 
of  every  drama.  Against  the  assumption  made  by  Delitzsch  and  Hahn  of  six  acts  may  be 
further  urged  in  particular  that  the  assertion  on  which  it  is  based  that  the  larger  act  v.  2— viii. 
4  is  plainly  divided  into  two  acts  by  the  recurrence  in  vi.  10  of  the  admiring  question  IJi  nxt  "D 
from  iii.  6  is  certainly  unfounded,  because  this  question  is  here  manifestly  only  a  statement  of 

cross-dialogue  of  this  kiadoiitof  almost  anvthin.;;  each  difficulty  ih  it  might  arise,  w  tuld  oal.v  rcq  lire  at  most  one  ad*'i- 
lioiial  c  ►mplicatiori.  or  one  additi  unal  speaker"  Nevertheless  this  extreme  isa  n;\funil  sequence  of  the  nieth(»d  adopt<'d. 
I  ft  he  lover  mn.v  be  divided  into  two,  why  not  the  beloved,  and  why  may  not  each  resulting  character  be  subdivided  again, 
h  process  which  must  very  goon  f  irni-li.  and  in  fact  in  HlTZlG's  and  Ren.^n's  hands  may  be  regarded  as  having  already 
y.iriiisiied  its  own  redu-tio  ad  absurdum. — Ta.J. 

*  [Tiiis  idea  has  been  a  favorite  one  with  English  Commentators.  The  book  bears  this  heading  in  Matthew's  Bible  ; 
"  Solomon  made  this  ballad  or  song  by  himself  and  his  wife  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  under  the  shad  .w  of  hims  If  figuring 
<'bri8t  and  under  the  person  of  his  wife  the  church."  And  among  the  more  recent  expositors,  WoRDSW. :  "  It  is  probable 
that  ihe  miniage  of  Solomon  with  Pharaoh's  daughter  may  have  given  occasion  to  the  comp  nition  of  the  torly-fiflli 
Psalm  and  also  of  the  Canticles.''  So  H\R3ier  (Outlines,  p.  27  ff.),  Ltortf.oot  (Chronology  of  Old  Te.st.  in  his  Work**,  I.  p. 
'"Ji.  Taylor  (Fcairments  appended  to  Caluiet.  No.  345  ff.)  and  with  mure  or  less  c  ■nfidence  many  others.  It  is  expressly 
controverted  by  Gill  (who  finds  a  chronoloLjical  difficulty  in  vii.  4,  comp.  1  Kin.  vi.  3S;  vii.  1,  2),  Percy  (who  argues  from 
lit.  4,  10;  viii.  2,  8,  12),  Thropp,  AVf.iss.  (who  urges  the  incongruities  of  the  literal  hypothesis  generally, and  especially  i.-\ 
«;  IT.  8;  V.  2,  fitc).  Moody  Stuart  ;who  adls  to  the  pr-'ceding  i.  7,  It;  vii.  4)  and  others — TR.j. 


10  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

what  was  thought  and  said  by  the  women  mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse,  and  is  therefore  most 
closely  connected  with  ver.  9,  as  this  with  ver.  8  of  the  same  chapter  (oomp.  the  exeget.  explana- 
tions in  loc).  A  separation  of  what  is  certainly  a  disproportionately  long  section  v.  2 — viii.  4, 
into  two  or  more  of  similar  size  seems  on  the  whole  to  he  impracticable  on  account  of  the  unifor- 
mity and  continuity  of  its  contents,  and  we  shall  for  this  reason  have  to  assume  that  the  five  acts 
enumerated  above  in  the  text  of  this  section  are  probably  the  original  ones ;  especially  as  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  the  points  of  division  assumed  by  Delitzsch  in  substantial  agree- 
ment with  EwALD  (ii  7;  iii.  5  ;  viii.  4^neach  case  the  well  known  refrain:  "  I  adjure  you,  ye 
daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  etc.).  We  differ  in  this  division  from  Ewald  and  Bottcher  only  in  that 
we  make  the  third  act  end  with  v.  1,  because  Bwald's  assertion  that  this  characteristic  concluding 
verse  "  I  adjure  you,  etc.,"  has  been  dropped  after  v.  8,  cannot  be  proved,  and  the  attaching  of  v.  2- 
7  to  the  third  act  appears  on  the  whole  inappropriate  (as  was  also  seen  by  Renan).  Our  division 
is  distinguished  from  that  of  Renan"  by  the  different  compass  which  it  assigns  to  the  last  two  acts, 
of  which  the  fourth  extends  according  to  him  from  v.  2  to  vi.  3,  the  fifth  from  vi.  3  to  viii.  7,  and 
filially  viii.  8-14  is  a  small  appendix  or  epilogue — all  this  in  virtue  of  the  strangest  and  most  forced 
assumptions,  which  will  be  remarked  upon  as  far  as  is  necessary  in  the  detailed  interpretation.  On 
the  compass  and  limits  of  the  scenes,  into  which  the  five  acts  are  again,  divided,  we  shall  have  to 
treat  in  connection  with  the  detailed  exegesis.* 

*  [Good,  Fry,  and  Noyes,  who  adopt  the  idyllic  hypothesis  divid&  the  book  as  follows,  wis; 

GOOD. 

IdTL  1.  i.  2-S  Royal  bride,  attendaat  virgins. 

2.  i.  9— ii.  7  King  Solonian,  Royal  brido. 

3.  ii.  8-17  Royal  bride. 

4.  iii.  1-5  Royal  bride. 

5.  iii.  6 — iv.  7  Roynl  bride,  attendant  virgins,  king  Soloman. 

6.  iv.  8 — V.  1  King  Solonian,  royal  bride. 

7.  V.  2 — vi.  10  Royal  lirtde,  atten  lant  virgins,  king  3oloman» 

8.  vi.  11-13  Royal  lirid(.%  atteniJaiit  virgins. 

9.  vii.  1 — 9  Royal  bride,  attendant  virgins,  fciiig  Solomao. 

10.  vii  10— viii.  4  Royal  bride. 

11.  viii.  5-7  Virgins,  rnyal  bride,  king  Soloman». 

12.  viii.  8-14  Royal  bride,  king  Soloman. 

FRY. 

IstlobPa&ablb    1.  i.  2-6  A  bride  from  a  low  station-  cnndtrcted  to- the  house  of  the  king. 

2.  i.  7,  8  Shepherd  and  shepherdess. 

3.  i.  9— ii.  7  Royil  brid«  and  bridegroom. 

4.  ii.  8-17  Lovers  in  the  country,  residing  at  a  distance. 

5.  iii.  1-5  Scene  from  humble  life  in  tlie  city. 

6.  iii.  6-11  Marriage  procession  of  the  king. 

7.  iv.  1— V.  1  A  lover  to  hi^  affi^mcjd. 

8.  V.  2 — vi.  1  A  domestic  occum-nire  in  liumMe  life  (in  two  parts). 

9.  vi.  2-10  A  bride  lehearsing  the  languige  ot  her  hnsbaud. 

10.  vi.  11— vii.  9  A  bride  in  a  garden  with  a  company  of  women. 

11.  vii.  10— viii.  4  A  bride  invites  her  husband  to  the  country. 

12.  viii.  5-14  A  married  pair  contemplated  and  overheard. 

NOYES. 

XKL  1-  i.  2-8  An  innocent  country  maiden  accompanied  by  virgins  is  anxioos  to  see  her  lOTor. 

2.  i.  9 — ii.  7  Conversation  between  a  lover  and  maiden. 

3.  ii.  8-17  The  maiden's  meeting  with  her  lover  in  a  vineyard. 

4.  iii.  1-5  The  maiden's  search  for  her  lover. 

5.  iii.  6-11  The  conducting  of  a  spouse  of  Solomon  to  his  palace. 

6.  iv.  1 — V.  1  Convei'satiou  between  a  lover  and  maiden. 

7.  T.  2— vi.  3  The  maidi^n's  search  for  her  lover  by  night,  and  praise  of  his  beauty. 

8.  vi.  4-9  The  lover's  praise  of  the  object  of  his  attachment. 

9.  vi.  10 — viii.  4  Conversation  between  a  lover  and  maiden. 

10.  viii.  5-7  Chorus  of  virgins,  maiden  and  lover. 

11.  viii.  8-12  A  convermtion  of  two  brothers  about  their  sister,  with  her  remarks. 

12.  vlli.  13, 14  The  lover  sent  away.     A  fragment. 

BosaoEl  suggested  the  idea  that  aucces.'iKe  portions  of  the  Song  of  Solpmon  wera  designed  to  be  sung  on  each  of  the  eer- 


§  3.  DATE  AND  AUTHOR  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  U 

i  3. — DATE  AND  AUTHOE  OP  THE  SONO  OP  SOLOMON. 

That  Canticles  was  composed  in  the  age  of  Solomon  aa  the  flourishing  period  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament Chokmah-literature  may  be  argued  not  only  from  manifold  indications  of  the  affinity 
between  its  ethical  tendency  and  view  of  the  world  and  those  of  Solomon's  collection  of  pro- 
verbs, but  chiefly  from  the  certainty  with  which  its  author  deals  with  all  that  is  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  Solomonic  period ;  the  exuberant  prosperity  and  the  abundance  of  native  and 
foreign  commodities  whose  existence  he  assumes  in  Israel  at  thit  time,  and  the  remarkably  rich 
round  of  figures  and  comparisons  from  nature  which  is  everywhere  at  his  command  in  his  de- 
scriptions. And  that  this  author  is  no  other  than  Solomon  himself  is  shown  by  the  extensive 
knowledge  which  he  exhibits  throughout  the  entire  poem  of  remarkable  and  rare  objects  from  all 
of  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature,  and  by  which  he  may  be  most  unmistakably  recognized  as  that 
wise  and  well  informed  king,  who  was  able  to  speak  "  of  trees  from  the  cedar  tree  that  is  m 
Lebanon  even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall ;  also  of  beasts  and  of  fowl  and 
of  creeping  things  and  of  fishes,"  1  Km.  v.  13  (iv.  33).  Solomon's  authorship  is  likewise  con- 
firmed by  the  equal  acquaintance  which  the  poet  shows  with  all  parts  of  the  land  of  Israel ;  the 
easy  and  familiar  way,  indicating  not  only  accurate  knowledge  but  royal  possession  and  owner- 
ship, in  which  he  speaks  of  horses  in  Pharaoh's  chariot  (i.  9),  of  wood  from  Lebanon  (iii.  9),  of 

en  diiya,  during  which  the  marriage  festival  lasted.    Percy,  Williams,  and  Taylor  (in  fragments  to  Calhet's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible)  base  their  diviaions  of  the  book  on  this  conception.    Thus : 

BOSSUET.  PERCY. 

1st  Day  i.  2— ii.  6  i.  2— ii.  7.    ' 

2d  Day  ii.  7-lT  ii.  8— iii.  5. 

3d  Day  iii.  1 — t.  1  iii.  6 — iv.  7. 

4th  Day  T.  2— Ti.  9  ir.  8— t.  1. 

5th  Day  Ti.  10— vii.  11  t.  2— ri.  10. 

6th  Day  yii.  12— Tiii.  S  Ti.  11— Tiii.  4. 

7th  Day  Tiii.  4-14  Tiii.  5-14. 

'V7II,LIAMS. 

let  Day— morning  i.  2-8  evening  i.  9-14 

2d  Day            "        i.  15— ii.  7  -          ii.  8-17. 

3d  Day           "        iii.  1-5  "          iii.  &-11. 

4th  Day            "        iT.  1-6  "          iv.  7— t.  1. 

5th  Day            "        t.  2— Ti.  3  "          Ti.  4-13. 

6th  Day            "        vii.  1-10  "          Tii.  11  — yiii.  4. 

7th  Day           "        Tiii.  5-7  "          Tiii.  8-14. 

Taylor  supposes  the  seTeral  *'  eclogues  "  to  be  sung  on  six  days,  and  before  the  marriage  ceremony  instead  of  after  It 
He  divided  the  book  thus: 

1st  Day— morning  i.  2-8  eTening  i.  9— ii.  7. 

2d  Day  "  ii.  8-17  «        iii.  1-5. 

3d  Day  "  iii.  6 — iv.  6  "        iv.  7— v,  1. 

4th Day  "  t.  2 — vi.3  "        vi.  4-13. 

5thDay  "  vii.  1-5  "        vii.  6 — viii.  4. 

6th  Day  "  (after  the  marriage  ceremony)  viii.  5-14. 

MOODT  Stdaet  divides  the  book  aa  is  done  by  Zocklee,  hut  entilles  the  sections  differently. 
Canticle  I.    i.  2— ii.  7  The  bride  seeking  and  finding  the  king. 
II.     ii.  8 — iii.  5  The  sleeping  Iiride  awakened. 

III.  iii.  6— v.  1  The  bridegroom  with  the  bride. 

IV.  T.  2— viii.  4  The  bridef-rnom's  withdrawal  and  reappearance,  and  the  bride*3  glory. 
V.     viii.  5-14  The  little  sister. 

DiTiDSOK  and  GlNSBtmo,  adherents  of  the  shepherd-hypothesis,  follow  the  same  division. 

Tbeupp  adopts  substantially  the  same,  only  snbdividing  the  fourth  and  last  sections,  thaa 
1  i.  3 — ii.  7  The  anticipation. 

2.  ii.  8 — iii.  5  The  awaiting. 

3.  iii.  6 — V.  1  The  espousal  and  its  results. 

4.  V.  2-3  The  ab.sence. 

5.  v.  9 — viii.  4  The  presence. 

6.  viii.  5-12  Love's  triiim[ih. 
Tiii.  13,  14  Cuuclusion, 


12  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

the  tower  in  Lebanon  looking  toward  Damascus  (vii,  5),  of  the  pools  of  Heshbon  and 
the  forests  of  Carmel  (vii.  5,  6),  the  tents  of  Kedar  and  the  mountains  of  Gilead  (i.  5; 
iv.  1),  of  the  beauty  of  Tirzah  and  th*  loveliness  of  Jerusalem  (vi.  4;  comp.  iv.  4),  etc. 
The  peculiarities  in  the  language  of  the  poem,  rightly  estimated,  likewise  testify  rather  in 
favor  of  than  against  Solomon's  authorship.  For  the  Aramaeisms  and  apparent  traces  of 
later  usage,  which  it  presents,  are,  like  similar  phenomena  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  in  the 
Book  of  Job,  in  the  prophet  Amos,  etc.,  to  be  attributed  entirely  to  its  highly  poetical  character. 
And  the  occurrence  m  individual  cases  of  foreign  non-Semitic  words  {e.g.  D^."^?  iv.  13,  ]Tli3X 
iii.  9),  if  this  were  actually  proven,  would  be  least  surprising  in  a  writer  of  such  many-sided 
learning  and  of  so  universal  a  turn  of  mind  as  Solomon.  And  finally  the  contents  of  the  piece 
are  of  such  a  nature  as  not  only  to  admit  but  actually  to  favor  the  supposition  that  Solomon  is 
the  author,  provided  that  m  a^scertaining  these  contents  we  discard  the  common  assumption  of 
the  profane-erotic  exegesis  that  this  king  is  introduced  as  the  seducer  of  the  innocence  of  a 
country  maid  who  adheres  with  steadfast  fidelity  to  her  betrothed.  For  the  fundamental 
thought  set  forth  above  {?  2,  p.  6)  in  opposition  thereto,  of  a  purifying  influence  proceeding  from 
Shulamith's  devoted  love  upon  the  heart  of  the  king,  already  partly  tainted  by  the  sensuality 
of  polygamy  and  the  voluptuous  manners  of  the  harem,  harmonizes  very  well  with  the  reference 
of  the  poem  to  Solomon  ;*  especially  as  the  mention  of  the  sixty  queens  and  the  eighty  concu- 
bines compared  with  the  numbers  stated  in  1  Kings  xi.  3  as  belonging  to  his  later  years,  seven 
hundred  queens  and  three  hundred  concubines,  p  lints  to  an  earlier  period  in  the  life  of  this  king 
as  the  date  of  the  poem,  a  time  when  his  many  wives  had  not  yet  ensnared  his  heart  in  unhal- 
lowed passion,'  nor  "  turned  him  away  after  strange  gods  "  to  the  extent  that  this  took  place 
shortly  before  his  d^ath,  1  Kings  xi.  4.  It  is,  therefore,  Solomon,  when  he  had  not  yet  sunk  to 
the  lowest  stage  of  polygamous  and  idolatrous  degeneracy,  but  was  stdl  relatively  pure,  and  at 
any  rate  was  still  in  full  possession  of  his  rich  poetic  productivity  1  Kings  v.  12  (iv.  32)  whom  we 
must  suppose  to  have  been  the  autlior  of  this  incomparably  beautiful  and  graceful  lyrico-dra- 
matic  work  of  art,  in  which  he  on  the  one  hand  extols  the  virtue  of  his  charming  wife,  and  on  the 
other  humbly  confesses  his  own  resistance  at  first  to  the  purifying  influence  proceeding  from  her. 
On  this  view,  therefore,  the  statement  of  the  title  (i.  1),  which,  though  post-Solomonic  ['],  is 
yet  very  ancient  and  certainly  prior  to  the  closing  of  the  Canon,  is  justified  as  perfectly  true 
historically  ;  and  it  is  unnecessary,  for  the  sake  of  setting  aside  the  direct  Solomonic  origin  of 
the  poem,  to  give  to  T\thv\,  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  language  and  of  the  constant  usage 
of  *?  in  the  superscriptions  to  the  Psalms,  the  explanation,  "  in  reference  to  Solomon,"  or  "  in  the 
style  of  Solomon."  to  which  e.  g.  U.mbreit,  following  the  lead  of  some  older  commentators  like 
CoccEiDS,  shows  himself  inclined  (perhaps  also  the  Septuag.  with  its  translation  :  'h-tcua  'aafiaruv, 
0  tOTiv  rij  2a?.u/;(ji').-j- 

Weiss,  accorJiiig  to  his  historico-prophetic  acheme,  divides  the  book  into  three  parts,  «a  related  to  three  successive  dirine 
manifestations,  togetlier  with  a  conclusion,  thus  : 

1.  i.  2 — ii.  7  The  dedication  of  the  tabernacle. 

2.  ii.  8 — iii.  5  The  dedication  of  Solomon's  temple. 

3.  iii.  6 — viii.  4  The  advent  of  Christ, 
viii.  5-14  Conclupion. 

BlTRROWES also  divides  into  three  parts,  vis.: 

1.  i.  2— ii.  7  Successive  manifestatione  of  divine  love  to  the  believing  soul. 

2.  ii  8 — vii.  9  Motives  to  allure  the  sou!  from  the  world  to  Christ. 

3.  vii.  10 — viii.  14  Kffects  p-oducrtd  by  those  manifestations  and  motives]. 

*  [The  discredit,  which  ZiJCKLER's  hypothesis  nnwarrantiibly  casts  upon  Solomon  as  exhibited  In  this  Song,  plainly 
tends  so  fir  :iH  it  goes  to  encumber  unnec-  p>arily  the  question  of  his  authorship. — Tr.] 

I  fWFiss  (and  more  dctubllully  Patrick.  Ainswouth  and  Gill)  translates,  -'concerning  Solomon."  conceiving  that  it 
is  a  heavenly  and  not  an  earthly  personage,  who  is  go  designated  in  this  verse  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  the  Song.  NoVRS 
(on  the  griiind  of  i.  4,  5:  iii.  6-11;  vii.  .5;  viii. 11, 12)  and  Tiiaiipp  deny  that  it  was  written  by  Solomon.  Th..  former 
supposes  ''Canticles  t(»  have  been  written  by  some  .Tuwisli  pfiet  either  in  the  reign  of  Solomon  or  so.m  after  it."  TBRlipr 
objects  that  8r>Iomon  w.os  not  fitted  by  his  training  to  appreciate  or  depict  a  pure  and  holy  love;  the  absence  of  any  allu- 
sion to  the  temple;  tlie  lypicnl  nsc  made  of  ihe  fig'ire  of  Solomon  ;  the  mention  of  Tirzah,  vi.  4;  certain  passages  upon 
which  he  lias  put  fin.irul  interpretations,  e.ti.  i.  l.'i,  I'nmi  wh'eh  he  infers  that  ■' .le^nsalem  was  no  linger  the  religious 
metropolis  of  the  whole  nation  ;"  iv.  4,  "  the  shields  of  suveral  successive  generations  of  warriors ;"'  ii.  16,  foxes  rava^iinjj  the 


g  3.  DATE  AND  AUTHOR  OF  THE  SONG  OP  SOLOMON.  13 

Remark  1.  The  position  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  the  literature  of  the  Old  Testament  is  thus 
defined  by  Delitzsch  (Section  II.,  p.  9  ff.)  aa  the  result  of  a  careful  investigation  ;   With  the 
exception  of  some  points  of  contact  with  Genesis  (comp.  e.g.  vii.  11  with  Geii.  iii.  16;  iv.  11 
with  Gen.  xxvii.  27;   viii.  6  with  Gen.  xlix.  7),  it  contains  no  references  to  the  earlier  writings 
of  the  Bible.     Quite  as  little  does  it  betray  any  close  relationship  in  ideas  or  language  with  the 
Psalms  of  David  or  the  Book  of  Job,  the  principal  productions  of  the  oldest  lyric  and  dramatic 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament.     But  on  the  contrary  it  presents  more  numerous  and  significant 
instances  of  resemblance  to  or  accordance  with  those  sections  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  which 
date  from  the  time  next  afterSolomon,  especially  with  Prov.  i.-ix  and  xxii.-xxiv  ;  and  these  are 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  assert  its  priority  and  the  imitation  of  many  of  its  ideas  and  expressions 
by  the  authors  of  those  sections.     The  correctness  of  these  observations,  from  which  it  follows 
at  least  that  Canticles  originated  in  the  Solomonic  period,  can  scarcely  be  impugned,  in  view 
especially  of  such  manifest  coincidences  as  that  between  Prov.  v.  15  ff.  and  Cant.  iv.  15,  between 
Prov.  vii.  17  and  Cant.  iv.  14,  between  Prov.  v.  3  and  Cant.  iv.  11,  between  Prov.  vi.  30,  31 
and  Cant.  viii.  6,  7,  between  Prov.  xxiii.  31  and  Cant.  vii.  10.     More  important,  however,  than 
these  and  like  internal  testimonies  to  the  existence  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  an  epoch  which 
at  any  rate  was  very  near  that  of  Solomon  (comp.  various  other  characteristic  coincidences  in 
individual  expressions  between  this  Song  and  the  Proverbs  collected  by  Hengsienberg,  da$ 
Hohelied  Salomo's,  etc.,  p.  23-1  f.,  and  Haevernick,  Einleil.  I.,  1,211)  are  the  indications  which 
point  directly  to  Solomon  himself  as  the  author,  such  as  the  Song  contains  in  no  small  numbbr. 
First  of  all,  it  moves  among  the  historical  relations  of  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon  with  the  ut- 
most confidence.    It  knows  the  crown,  with  which  Solomon  was  crowned  by  his  mother  Bathsheba 
on  the  day  of  his  marriage  (iii.  11),  likewise  his  bed  of  state  made  of  cedar  wood  from  Lebanon 
(iii.  9,  10),  and  his  sedan  surrounded  by  sixty  of  the  heroes  of  Israel  (iii.  7) ;  further,  the  tower 
of  David  hung  with  a  thousand  shields  (iv.  4),  the  ivory  tower  of  Solomon,  as  well  as  the  watch- 
tower  built  on  Lebanon  toward  Damascus  (vii.  5).     All  these  things,  to  which  are  to  be  added 
the  "  horses  in  Pharaoh's  chariot,"  i.  e.    the  chariot  horses  of  the  king  imported  from  Egypt 
(i.  9  ;  comp.  1  Kings  x.  28,  29  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  23) ;  likewise  Solomon's  "  sixty  queens  and  eighty 
concubines  "  (vi.  8  ;  comp.  1  Kings  xi.  3) ;  the  royal  vineyards  at  Engedi  and  at   Baal-hamon 
(i.  14 ;  viii.  11)  ;  the  pools  of  Heshbon  (vii.  5)  ;  Shenir,  Hermon  and  Amana,  peaks  of  Lebanon 
(iv.  8) ;  the  plain  of  Sharon  and  Mount  Carmel  (ii.  1 ;  vii.  6),  etc. — all  this  is  taken  in  so  readv 
a  way  from  objects  immediately  at  hand,  and  described  upon  occasion  with   such  an  accurate 
and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  things  themselves  that  we  cannot  deem  the  author  of  such  de- 
scriptions to  have  been  a  subject  or  citizen  of  Solomon's  kingdom  or  any  other  than  this  king 
himself,  the  possessor  and  ruler  of  the  whole.     And  this  especially  for  the  reason  that  in  the 
way  in  which  the  manifold  beauties  of  nature  and  of  art  in  the  kingdom  just  mentioned  are  bv 
bold  comparisons  and  luxuriant  figures  employed  to  exalt  the  Shulainite,  there  is  a  rtianifest  endea- 
vor to  connect  whatever  in  it  is  grand  and  entrancing  with  the  king's  beloved  and  to  represent 
the  whole  as  personally  concentrated  as  it  were  in  her.     That  along  with  this  Solomon  is  often 
mentioned  in  the  third  person  and  by  name,  that  not  unfrequently  he  is  spoken  of  in  a  lauda- 
tory way,  and  once  particularly  (v.  10-16)  the  praise  of  his  beauty  is  dwelt  upon  at  length  and 
ill  lavish  terms  from  the  mouth  of  his  beloved — this  can  no  more  be  regarded  as  disproving  the 
authorship  of  Solomon,  than  it  can  be  inferred  from  the  mention   of  Tirzah   along  with   Jerusa- 
lem in  vi.  4  that  the  poem  did  not  have  its  origin  until  after  Solomon's  d^ath,  in  the  time  when 
the  kingdoms  were   divided.     For  Tirzah  was  doubtless  already  under  David  and  Solomon  a 
city  distinguished  for  its  greatness  and  beauty,  and  was  only  made  the  royal  residence  in   the 
northern  kingdom  by  Jeroboam  and  his  immediate  successors  (1  Kings  xiv.  17  ;  xv.  21  ;  xvi. 

vineyard  of  Israel  woald  not  be  thought  of  in  Solomon's  prosperous  reign ;  Ps.  xlv ,  which  is  imitated  in  this  Song 
"probably  dates  from  the  reign  of  Jehoahaphat."  From  these  data,  which  are  so  intangible  a9  not  to  require  and  .scarcely 
to  admit  of  refutation,  he  infers  that  the  "  Song  of  songs  was  prohably  composed  about  a  century  or  more  after  the  d"ath 
of  Solomon  by  a  member  of  one  of  the  prophetical  scbooU  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes."  GlHSBURQ  says:  "  Th« 
title  of  this  poem  designates  Solomon  as  the  author,  but  internal  evidence  is  against  it,"  that  is  to  say,  the  explanation 
wliich  he,  in  common  with  other  advocates  of  the  shepherd-hypothesis,  puts  upon  it  is  inconsistent  with  its  having  been 
written  by  Solomon.  But  whether  in  this  case  the  well  accredited  fact  of  Solomon's  authorship  must  be  given  up  or  the 
untenable  hypothesis  must  fall  is  another  matter. — Tr,] 


14  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

S.  23),  for  tbe  reason  that  it  had  previously  attained  to  a  highly  flourishing  condition  and  to 
great  consequence,  comp.  Josh.  xii.  24,  wliere  it  already  appears  as  an  ancient  -city  of  the  Ca- 
naanitish  kings.  The  laudation  of  Solomon,  however,  hke  the  frequent  mention  of  his  name  ii 
sufficiently  explained  by  the  dramatic  constitution  of  the  whole,  which  made  it  necessary  for  the 
royal  poet  to  speak  of  himself  as  objeotiv^-'ly  as  possible  (comp.  much  that  is  similar  in  the 
Psalms  of  David,  e.g.,  Ps.  xx.,  xxi.,  ex.,  likewise  in  Ps.  Ixxii.  by  Solomon)  and  which  in  parti- 
cular" unavoidably  brought  with  it  the  mutual  praise  of  the  lover  and  his  beloved  "  (Del.  p.  17). 
But  a  more  emphatic  testimony  than  any  hitherto  adduced,  is  borne  in  favor  of  Solomon  him- 
self as  the  author  of  the  poem,  by  the  extraordinarily  developed  appreciation  of  the  beauties 
of  nature  which  the  singer  exhibits  at  every  point  of  his  performance,  and  his  fondness,  which 
reminds  us  at  once  of  1  Kings  v.  13  (iv.  33),  for  figures,  tropes  and  similes  highly  imagina- 
tive in  conception  and  in  execution,  and  drawn  from  every  realm  of  nature,  particularly  from 
animal   and   plant   life.     There  are  mentioned  in  tbis  poem  nearly   twenty   names  of  plants 

{lUS  nut,    nnnx  Ugnaloes,   '|^X    cedar,  flSsan    wild  flower,  D'Bn   wheat,  133    cyprus-floioer, 

P313  crocus,  T\l2'l frankincense,  13  myrrh,  113  nard,  ^^3"^  pomegranate,  [iyiE'  lily,  Hjxri  flg^  niijri 
apple,  r\113  cypress,  \^}vine,  D'XI^I  mandrakes,  HJp  calamus,  \'''^^^.  cinnamon),  and  almost  as 
many  names  of  animals  (Q^y^i  jjanlhers,  HD^D  horse,  3^1;?  raven,  D'JJ;'  goats,  D"7"Xn  liji'  a 
young  hart,  HTiyn  PS'X  hind,  Q'^^VS  foxes,  liil  turtle-dove,  nVIX  lions,  HVIJ  kids,  D'Jl'  doves, 
'ax  gazelle,  D'/ni  sheep ;  comp.  also  \'0  ivory,  which  is  named  several  times).  And  not  a  few 
of  these  names  are  Hapaxlegomena  or  like  the  names  of  valuable  minerals  (as  t^iy  marble,  E'"B'"'j1 
turquoise,  1'3?  sapphire)  which  are  also  found  here,  occur  but  rarely  m  other  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. If  we  duly  consider  the  small  compass  of  the  piece  in  which  such  an  abundance  of  names 
of  remarkable  natural  objects  is  crowded  together,  and  estimate  besides  the  repeated  occurrence 
of  many  of  these  names  and  the  "  various  points  of  view  under  which  they  are  contemplated 
(e.  g.  in  the  pomegranate,  its  pulp  when  cut,  iv.  3;  vi.  7;  its  buds,  vi.  11;  vii.  13;  its  juice, 
viii.  2),"  we  can  scarcely  help,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  numerous  intern  il  and  external  indica- 
tions poim  to  the  age  of  Solomon  as  the  d.ite  of  the  Song,  finding  its  author  in  Solomon  himself, 
the  renowned  royal  sage,  whom  the  book  of  Kings  [loc.  cil.)  praises  as  at  once  the  greatest  of 
natural  philosophers  and  the  most  fertile  composer  of  songs.  Moreover  the  criterion  afforded  in 
vi.  8  for  the  more  exact  determination  of  the  period  of  his  life,  in  which  Solomon  composed  this 
poem,  must  in  no  wise  be  overlooked.  From  a  comparison  of  this  passage  with  1  Kings  xi.  3  f. 
we  can  c  )nclude  with  entire  certainty  that  the  period  in  question  was  that  middle  age  of  the 
king  when  his  decline  from  his  former  sincere  obeJience  to  the  commandments  of  the  Lord 
had  already  begun,  without  having  attained  that  depth  of  moral  degeneracy  which  it  sub- 
sequently reached.  This  was  already  substantially  the  opinion  of  Grotius  in  his  Adnotat.  in 
V.  T.  respecting  the  date  and  origin  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  (after  those  Jewish  interpreters 
in  Bereshilh  Ribba,  Jalkut  and  Pesikta,  who  supposed  that  Canticles  was  composed  hy 
Solomon  in  his  younger  years*),  only  he  (as  also  v.  Hopmann,  see  ^  2  Remark  1)  emn.'- 
ou->ly  explained  it  of  the  marriage  of  Solomon  with  an  Egyptian  princess  and  mingled  m 
mj.ny  notions  of  its  contents  as  referring  to  the  mysteries  of  married  life,  which  were  offen- 
sive to  the  aesthetic  and  moral  feelings  of  Christian  readers.  (Comp.  DELiTZsca,  p.  14,  b't). 

Remark  2.  The  mist  considerable  objections  of  m->dern  critics  against  the  Solomonic 
authenticity  of  Canticles  are  those  which  are  drawn  from  its  lang  lage.  Yet  nodeois.ve  argument 
against  its  genuineness  can  be  constructed  out  of  them,  b^icause  the  alleged  traces  of  a  later 
AramfBizing  type  of  the  language,  which  it  presents,  may  all  without  exception  be  explained 
as  characteristic  of  the  poetic  character  of  its  diction.     So,  first  of  all,  the  abbreviated  relative 

•  [MiODY  SroART  atifl  others  imagiue  that  this  Song  was  written  b?  Solo-mn  before  he  ascended  the  throne,  conceiv- 
ing this  toba  tlio  reason  w'ly  hi)  is  n')t  called  king,  i.  1;  comp.  Pniv.  i.  1:  Eicles.  i.  1.  Gill  thinks  the  omission  of  h.s 
ruga!  title  is  an  intimation  uf  the  allegorical  iiatnre  of  the  Song,  an  I  argues  from  thi  mention,  vii.  4,  of  the  *■  tower  ol 
L-^banon,"  which  he  idflntift's  with  the  "lionsi  of  the  forest  of  L?baaon,"  1  Kings  vii.  2.  that  Solomnn  must  have  he.-;] 
king  fir  at  least  twintv  v  -afi.  w'lm  tills  'i-i  ik  wflj  written.  Pools;  "ConipoHPI  by  Solomun,  but  whether  before  his  f.ili 
or  after  Iiis  r.-p  -atiav).  in  n  it  e  isy  to  deter ;nino,  nor  necessary  to  lie  kiown."— TR.j 


?  3.  DATE  AND  AUTHOR  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  15 

■^  for  "^B^X'  which,  though  foreign  to  prose  and  to  the  semi-prosaic  language  of  the  gnomic 
poets  of  the  earlier  period,  and  on  this  account  neither  used  by  the  author  of  the  prosaic  title 
to  this  book  (comp.  above,  p.  1),  nor  even  by  Solomon  in  his  proverbs  (Prov.  x.  1 — xxii.  16,  where 
as  in  the  Proverbs  generally  the  forml^X  is  invariably  found),  nevertheless  occurs  in  several 
poems,  of  acknowledged  antiquity,  especially  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  which  is  certainly  pre- 
Solomonic  (Judg.  v.  7;  mm  'HOpyJ  nj?),  as  well  as  in  the  book  of  Job  (chap.  xix.  29),  which 
probably  dates  from  the  time  of  Solomon.  The  fact,  that  a  part  of  the  poetry  designated  as 
Solomon's  in  the  canon,  viz.,  the  Proverbs  and  the  72d  Psalm  (which  presents  however  some 
other  coincidences  in  diction  and  expression  with  Canticles),  uses  the  prosaic  "^t^X,  and  this 
Song  alone  the  highly  poetic  'Ef  is  entirely  analogous  to  the  circumstance  that  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  only  makes  use  of  this  abbreviated  form  in  his  Lamentations  (e.  g.  ii.  15  f. ;  iv.  9; 
v.  18),  whilst  his  prophetic  discourses,  which  often  pass  into  the  poetic,  always  have  "^t^S  only. 
It  follows  hence  inevitably  that  E7  is  essentially  poetic,  while  yet  it  is  not  necessarily  adapted  to 
all  kinds  of  poetry ;  and  for  this  very  reason  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  the  post-exilic 
origin  of  this  poem.  The  same  judgment  precisely  must  be  passed  upon  the  form  TVZ^O  i.  7 
(a  combination  of  the  confirmatory  t?  and  the  interrogative  HD?,  not  a  modification  of  the 
Aram  N07T  "perhaps").  Likewise  the  Araraasisms  1B3  for  "^VJ  (i.  6;  viii.  11,  12),  nna  for 
tyiia  (i.  17),  inp  "winter"  (ii.  11)  are  sufficiently  explained  from  that  preference  for  a 
recherche  and  highly  poetical  style  of  expression,  which  also  led  the  poet  to  adopt  the  unusual 
forms  nin3a  for  "r\3i?  (iv.  3),  "^210  for  ns    [ibid.),  riy->   for  r\y-}   (i.  9,  15;  ii.  2.     Comp.  Ps. 

xlv.  15),  D"3J  for  ni3J  (iv.  15;  vi.  2;  viii.  13),  and  many  more  of  the  same  sort;  and  conse- 
quently there  is  the  less  need  for  regarding  them  (with  Ew-vld  and  some  others)  as  idioms  in 
the  dialect  of  Northern  Palestine,*  and  consequently  as  proofs  that  the  poem  originated  in  one 
of  the  northern  tribes,  whether  before  or  after  the  division  of  the  kingdom.  Many  peculiarities 
of  language  are  also  without  doubt  to  be  imputed  to  Solomon's  cosmopolitan  turn  of  mind  and 
views  of  the  world,  which  inclined  him  to  introduce  all  the  foreign  artists  and  works  of  art 
that  he  possibly  could  into  his  kingdom  (comp.  1  Kin.  vii.  13  ff.  ;  x.  11  ff ),  and  would  also 
impel  him  to  incorporate  words  from  foreign  lands  into  the  not  very  copious  language  of 
Hebrew  poetry.  There  may  thus  be  referred  to  a  foreign  origin,  if  not  exactly  the  names  of 
plants  7'?A  (comp.  Sansc.  naladd,  old  Pers.  narada),  D3'^3  (Sansc.  kunhuma,  lat.  curcuma), 
^^ 'V**?  (Sansc.  aguru  or  aghil),  yet  perhaps  the  expressions  D^^3  for  "  pleasure  garden"  (iv.  13) 
and  P'"^3S*  for  ''  royal  litter"  or  "  palanquin"  (iii.  9),  the  former  to  the  Indian  -pradic^a  "  wall" 
(Hitzig),  or  to  the  Zendpairidaiza  "mound  of  earth,  wall"  (according  to  Spiegel,  Haug, 
Ew.,  eCc),  and  the  latter  to  the  Sansc.  paryCma  "riding  saddle"  (not,  as  Jerome,  and  most 
recently  Magnds  and  Schlottmann  supposed,  to  the  Greek  (popslov).  And  yet  even  in  the 
case  of  these  two  words  a  foreign  origin  is  not  demonstrable  with  absolute  certainty,  for  D"Ti3 
might  bean  Aram,  quadrilaleral  for  0^3.  and  of  the  same  signification  with  p3  "plain,  field," 
and  P")3S  a  derivative  from  the  root  mD  after  the  analogy  of  P'^3,  etc.,  synonymous  with 
the  Aram.  N'^1'3  "  bed;"  comp.  Delitzsch,  p.  22-26.  But  even  though  the  foreign  origin  of 
these  expressions,  and  of  many  others  besides,  were  to  be  regarded  as  made  out,  the  possibility 
of  Canticles  having  been  composed  by  Solomon,  or  having  at  least  originated  in  the  time  of 
Solomon,  could  not  in  any  case  be  denied  on  this  ground,  or  on  that  of  its  other  linguistic 
peculiarities.  And  the  less  so,  because  so  many  other  indications  point  to  its  origin  in  a  much 
earlier  period  than  e.  g.  that  of  the  exile  assumed  by  Umbbeit  and  others,  or  even  that  of  the 
Greek  domination  assumed  by  Hartmann  (on  the  ground  of  [V13S  ipopelov.  iii.  9).  On  the 
whole,  the  judgment  expressed  by  Hengstenberg  (Comm.  p.  237  f.)  in  regard  to  the  linguistic 
peculiarities  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  still  remains  correct :  "  That  the  author  is  not 
dependent  on  the  Aramteizing  usage  of  later  times,  but  is  governed  throughout  by  design  and 
by  free  choice,  is  plain  1)  'from  the  ftict  that  with  the  exception  of  !?  .scarcely  anything  is  to  be 

*  [So  Tlirupp,  who  also  classes  hen.-  tho  "  ch:iriots  of  my  people,"  vi.  12 ;  comp.  2  Kin.  ii.  12;  xiii.  14.— Tr.] 


16  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

found,  which  recurs  again  in  the  later  usage  of  the  language ;  the  foreign  forms  are  exclusively 
peculiar  to  the  Song  of  Solomon" — (but  here  0^'}3.  which  is  also  found,  Eccles.  ii.  5,  is  an 
exception)  [that  is,  on  the  assumption  in  which  Zocklek  and  Hengstenbeeo  concur,  that 
Ecclesiastes  was  not  written  by  Solomon,  but  belongs  to  a  later  age.^TR.] — 2)  "  that  the  languao-e 
has  a  youthful  freshness,  as  m  none  of  the  products  belonging  to  the  times  of  a  degenerate 
Hebrew."  Comp.  also  Dopke,  Hohel ,  p.  28  ff,  Ewald,  p.  16  If.,  Hitzig,  p.  8  ff.  (who, 
however,  like  Ewald,  gathers  up  the  Aramaeisms  of  the  piece  ir.  a  one-sided  way  in  favor  of 
his  hypothesis  that  it  belongs  to  the  north  of  Palestine,  and  hence  was  not  written  by  Solomon) 
and  Delitzsch,  p.  19  flf. 

I  4.    THE    ETHICAL    IDEA    AND    THE    TYPICAL    IMPORT    OF   THE   SONG   OP   SOLOMON. 

The  conjugal  love  of  Solomon  and  Shulamith,  described  in  Canticles,  has  a  significance 
beyond  itself  and  its  own  times.  As  the  love  of  the  wise  and  glorious  king  of  Israel  to  a 
plain,  pure-minded  and  marvellously  beautiful  maiden  from  among  his  people,  it  mirrors  forth 
the  relation  of  .Jehovah,  the  covenant  God  of  the  theocracy  to  the  Old  Testament  people  of 
God  as  His  bride,  and  the  chosen  object  of  His  love  (comp.  Hos.  ii.  18,  21 ;  Isa.  liv.  5  ;  Ixii.  4.  5  ; 
Jer.  ii.  2;  iii.  1  ff. ;  iv.  30;  xiii.  22,  26;  xxx.  14;  Ezek.  xvi.  8,  etc.),  and  is  a  prophecy  of  the 
far  stronger,  and  more  tender  manifestation  of  His  love,  which  God  has  condescended  to  bestow 
on  all  mankind  in  the  times  of  the  New  Testament  salvation.  The  love  of  Solomon  to 
Sliulamith  is  a  type  of  the  loving  communion  between  Christ  and  His  Church  (.John  iii.  29; 
Mat.  ix,  15,  etc.),  nay.  a  prophecy  of  that  glorious  culmination  and  final  act  in  His  loving  union 
with  it,  which  Paul,  Eph.  v.  31  f.  designates  as  the  "  great  mystery,"  which  is  to  form  the  last 
and  highest  fulfilment  of  nature's  sacred  law  of  marriage  (Gen.  ii.  24  :  "  For  this  cause  shall 
a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  unto  his  wife,  and  thev  two  shall  be 
one  flesh").  It  is  no  objection  to  this  assumption  of  a  typical  and  Messianic  character  of  the 
Song  of  Solomon,  that  the  idea  of  conjugal  or  wedded  love  is  not  exhibited  in  it  in  unsullied 
moral  purity,  but  impaired  in  various  ways  by  the  dark  back-ground  of  polygamy,  and  that  it 
is  Solomon  who  appears  as  the  guilty  party,  as  the  cause  of  this  partial  spoiling  of  the  ideal 
substance  of  the  action.  For  in  spite  of  Solomon's  sad  degeneracy,  which  had  already,  by  the 
time  of  the  action  described  in  this  poem,  seized  upon  his  heart,  once  devoted  beyond  others  to 
obedience  to  the  word  of  God  (see  1  Kin.  iii.  9  ff.),  and  in  spit<i  of  the  merely  temporary  nature 
of  his  conversion  wrought  by  Shulamith,  which  was  afterwards  followed  by  a  still  lower  fall, 
he  nevertheless  is  and  remains  one  of  the  most  distinguished  types  of  the  Messiah  in  the 
entire  series  of  Old  Testament  preflgurations,  as  Christ's  own  comparison  of  His  wisdom  and 
glory  with  that  of  Solomon  teaches  us  (Matt.  xii.  42;  comp.  vi.  28).  But  Shulamith,  the  en- 
chantingly  beautiful  daughter  of  the  land  of  Israel,  in  whose  fair  body  dwelt  a  still  fairer  soul, 
and  among  who.se  noble  virtues  a  chaste  but  fondly  loving  heart,  and  an  humble  mind  of 
child-like  simplicity  shone  in  the  first  rank — Shulamith  appears  as  a  striking  tvpe  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  And  this  becomes  the  more  appropriate  in  proportion  as  the  Church  more 
and  more  plainly  presents  the  figure  of  a  maiden  raised  from  a  low  condition  to  glorious 
communion  with  her  royal  bridegroom,  and  as  her  cordial,  humble,  loving  attachment  and 
adherence  to  her  Lord,  faithful  unto  death,  such  as  she  should  manifest  according  to  her  true 
idea,  and  as  she  actually  does  manifest  in  growing  measure  in  her  true  members,  resembles  the 
love  of  that  plain  shepherd's  daughter  to  her  royal  lord  and  master.  There  is  certainly  this 
dissimilitude  in  the  parallel,  that  the  morally  purifying,  ennobling  and  delivering  influence  in 
the  typical  relation  between  Solomon  and  Shulamith,  proceeds  from  the  wife,  while  in  the 
grand  antitype,  the  formation  of  the  new  covenant  by  Christ,  the  redeeming  and  sanctifying 
agency  belongs  to  the  husband  (comp.  Eph.  v  25  ff  ).  But  a  partial  discrepancy  of  this  nature, 
or  even  contrast  between  the  type  and  its  prototype,  is  found  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  every 
prefiguration  of  the  history  of  redemption  ;  comp.  the  Old  Testament  parallel  between  Adam 
and  Christ,  Rom.  v.  12  ff.,  between  the  termination  of  David's  earthly  life  and  that  of  Christ's, 
Acts  xiii.  36,  37,  between  Jonah  and  the  Lord,  as  a  greater  prophet  than  he,  Matt.  xii.  40.  And 
furthermore,  that  very  dissimilitude  involves  also  an  important  resemblance,  inasmuch  as 
Christ's  coming  down  to  His  people  was  one  with  the  riches  of  heaven  becoming  poor,  and  one 


■i  4.  THE  ETHICAL  IDEA  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


divinely  glorious  becoming  a  servant  (2  Cor.  viii.  9;  Phil.  ii.  6  flf.),  induced  thereto  retiUy  by 
their  mute  waiting  and  supplication;  and  inasmuch  as  this  bemg  drawn  by  the  power  of  a 
child-like  confiding  love,  is  repeated  again  and  again  between  the  Lord  and  every  believing  soul 
among  His  people,  and  shall  be  repeated  to  the  end  of  time  (John  xiv.  23;  Matt,  xviii.  20; 
Rev.  iii.  20). 

It  will  constitute  the  task  of  the  sections  in  this  Commentary,  which  relate  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  doctrinal  and  ethical  ideas,  to  point  out  in  detail  the  peculiar  combination  of  the 
typical  by  analogy,  and  the  typical  by  contrast  in  the  relations  between  the  persons  of  this 
Song  on  the  one  hand,  and  Christ  and  His  Church  on  the  other,  Shulamith  will  prevailingly 
appear  to  be  an  ethical,  and  Solomon  a  metaphysical  type  of  Christ.  The  character  of  the 
former  will  offer  an  abundance  of  models  for  the  direct  imitation  of  Christians  in  their  religious 
life,  whilst  her  royal  lover,  by  his  position  in  the  theocracy  and  in  the  history  of  redemption, 
and  by  the  elevation  to  a  dignity  of  equal  distinction  which  he  accords  to  the  poor  maiden  will 
be  a  direct  type  of  the  Redeemer.  The  allegorical  exegesis  which  fails  to  recognize  or  obliterates 
the  partial  contrast  between  him  and  the  Saviour,  or  the  attempt  to  make  out  the  unconditional 
and  thoroughly  Messianic  character  of  the  piece  at  the  expense  of  its  historical  truth,  will  find 
its  refutation  and  correction  step  by  step  along  with  this  E.xposition. 

Remark  1. — That  the  fundamental  thought  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  lies  essentially  in  the 
praise  of  the  joyful  happiness  of  wedded  love,  that  its  mystery  therefore  is  no  other  than  the 
mystery  of  marriage  (Eph.  v.  31,  32),  and  that  this  its  mystical  idea  is  vividly  presented  in  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  events  ot  Solomon's  life,  which  is  of  such  great  significance  in  the 
history  of  redemption, — this  is  the  estimate  put  upon  it,  and  the  position  accorded  to  it  in 
Biblical  Theology  by  Delitzsch,  and  in  substantial  agreement  with  him  by  von  Hofmann, 
and  this  we  are  convinced  is  the  only  correct  one.  The  latter  says  (in  a  "  Supplement "  to 
Delitzsch's  Jlohe  Lied,  p.  237  f.) :  "  Canticles  is  a  song  of  love,  which  is  here  exhibited  in  all 
the  fulness  of  its  beauty,  grace  and  power,  richly  adorned  besides  with  the  royal  splendor  of 
Solomon,  and  still  in  the  purity  and  chastity  of  the  marriage  bond.  As  opposed  to  any  heathen 
composition  that  can  be  compared  with  it,  it  is  a  monument  of  the  unfolding  of  the  natural 
life  to  the  splendor  of  its  full  bloom  of  earthly  bliss  in  a  manner  pleasing  to  God,  such  an 
unfolding  as  was  possible  only  where  the  natural  life  was  under  the  protection  of  a  guidance 
which  was  shaping  its  way  to  the  ultimate  redemption.  And  if  we  look  at  the  place  which  it 
holds  in  the  sacred  history,  at  the  end  of  five  hundred  years'  direct  development  of  Israel,  when 
in  his  king  and  his  king's  son  (Ps.  Ixxii.  1)  the  complete  form  of  national  sovereignty  had  been 
reached,  it  has  its  significance  in  regard  to  the  spiritual  counterpart  of  this  glory,  that  in  his 
whole  estate  the  king  has  nothing  on  earth  to  which  his  heart  is  so  completely  given,  as 
Shulamith,  his  only  love:  in  this  personal,  human  relation  he  finds  the  full  satisfaction  of  his 
life.  When  the  King  of  glory,  in  whom  we  hope,  appears,  His  people  shall  also  be  His  bride. 
His  Church  is  to  Him  both  people  and  wife,  as  the  relation  between  man  and  woman  established 
at  the  creation  is  no  less  a  prophecy  of  Christ  and  His  Church,  than  the  relation  of  the  king 
of  Israel  to  His  people  in  the  history  of  redemption.  The  relation,  m  which  the  Lord  stands  to 
His  Church  is  entirely  a  personal  one,  like  that  between  Solomon  and  Shulamith.  Then  we 
shall  not  expound  this  or  that  particular  in  the  Song  of  songs  of  him.  but  the  glad  antitype  of 
the  loving  communion  which  it  sings  shall  have  come  to  pass,  identical  with  the  antitype  of 
the  relation  between  the  anointed  of  the  Lord  and  Israel."  Comp.  SchriHbeweis  II.  2,  p.  370  f. : 
"The  poet  sets  before  our  eyes  the  depth  and  the  blessedness  of  this  love  of  the  sexes  (of  which 
it  is  said  viii.  6  that  it  is  "strong  as  death'")  and  the  glory  of  corporeal  beauty,  when  love  is 
awakened  and  nourished  by  it,  both  of  them  as  the  natural  products  of  creative  energy,  and 
therefore  abstracted  from  those  moral  qualities  which  impart  to  corporeal  beauty  a  value 
dependent  on  the  individual,  and  lend  to  the  love  of  the  sexes  a  basis  and  a  substance  dependent 

on  the  individual Only  in  the  same  sense,  therefore,  in  which  the  creation  of  woman 

was  the  institution  of  marriage,  can  Canticles  be  called  an  extolling  of  marriage.  The  divinely 
created  relation  of  the  sexes  as  differing  and  yet  belonging  together,  upon  which  marriage  rests, 
is  praised,  and  that  in  the  richness  of  its  beauty.by  the  king  in  whom  the  people  of  God  attained 
its  highest  earthly  glory,  as  the  good  which  in  his  view  surpassed  all  the  good  things  in  his  royal 


31 


18  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


magnificence,"  etc.  From  this  statement  of  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  poem  by  Hofjians, 
Delitzsch  differs  principally  in  doing  fuller  justice  to  the  noble  virtues,  which  in  addition  lu 
her  physical  beauty  adorn  its  heroine,  and  consequently  making  not  merely  marriage  in  general, 
marriage  as  belonging  to  the  realm  of  natnre  and  of  sense,  but  an  ideal  marriage,  or  at  leas-t 
an  ideal  wedded  love  and  fidelity  the  object  extolled  by  the  poet.  He  hopes  (according  to 
p.  155  ff.)  that  he  has  by  his  exposition  led  to  the  recognition  of  a  side  of  the  Song  of  Solomon 
hitherto  ignored  or  neglected:  "viz.,  the  ethical  character  of  Shulamith,  the  fine  and  feeling  pic- 
ture of  her  soul,  fairer  even  than  the  fair  body  which  it  tenanted,  and  in  general  her  profound, 
persistent  and  calm  moral  earnestness,  the  golden  ground  on  which  the  smiling  colors  of  this  joy- 
ous song  are  everywhere  laid."  "  Shulamith's  beauty,"  he  continues,  "  is  not  mere  physical 
beauty  of  the  corporeal  form,  nor  the  beauty  of  a  Grecian  statue  of  Aphrodite,  when  one  feels 
as  though  the  finely  shaped  marble  began  to  live  and  to  walk.  Her  beauty  is  not  merely  natu- 
ral, but  moral  and  living.  This  moral  life  is  not  indeed  the  New  Testament  spiritual  life  from 
God,  which  will  finally  transform  the  physical  life  into  its  own  likeness,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
has  not  the  mere  semblance  of  virtue,  in  which  what  are  only  splendida viiia  so  often  shine  not 
only  in  the  heathen  world,  but  in  the  world  at  large.  The  morality  of  Shulamith  is  no  more  de- 
void of  substance  and  value  than  the  Old  Testament  morality  in  general.  Shulamith  is  still  na- 
ture and  not  spirit,  but  her  nature  has  been  well  trained  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  hallowed  by  the 
grace  of  Jehov.ah.  What  is  specifically  Israelitish  indeed  recedes  in  Shulamith  quite  into  the 
background  behind  the  universally  human.  This  is  the  fundamental  character  of  all  the  written 
productions  of  the  Chokmah  in  the  time  of  Solomon.  But  this  splendid  and  fragrant  growth  of 
a  hallowed  nature  and  a  noble  maidenhood  does  not  disown  the  soil  on  which  it  has  grown.  It 
is  the  soil  of  the  revelation  deposited  in  Israel."*  As  the  particular  moral  traits  or  virtues  in  Shu- 
lamith's character,  he  then  specifies — 1)  her  sincere,  really  personal  and  not  merely  sensual  love 
for  her  royal  lover ;  2)  her  child-like  and  naive  simplicity  ;  3)  her  hearty  delight  in  nature :  4) 
her  chaste  and  pure  womanhood  ;  5)  her  sisterly  love  and  filial  affection  for  her  mother.  The  ef- 
fect which  this  profoundly  moral  character  of  hers  has  upon  Solomon,  consists  in  his  "  becoming 
a  child  himself  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the  word  through  the  influence  of  Shulamith."  "  The 
love  with  which,  simple,  humble,  chaste  as  she  is,  she  inspires  the  king,  teaches  the  wise  man 
child-like  simplicity,  brings  the  king  down  into  the  vale  of  humility,  sets  respectful  bounds  to 
the  impetuous  lover.  He  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  this  lily  of  the  field  in  the  artless  at- 
tire of  her  beauty  and  her  virtue  is  more  richly  adorned  than  he  in  all  his  glory.  Nature  no 
longer  speaks  to  the  natural  philosopher  the  language  of  perplexing  enigmas,  but  the  gentle  lan- 
guage of  love.  The  possessor  of  a  full  harem  has  found  the  one  to  whom  henceforth  his  heart  be- 
longs, and  to  no  other  besides.  Following  her  he  willingly  e.xchanges  the  bustle  and  splendor  of 
court  life  for  the  retirement  and  simplicity  of  the  country.  Afar  from  his  palace,  if  he  but  has 
her  on  his  arm,  he  roves  over  mountain  and  meadow,  and  with  her  he  is  contented  in  her  cottage. 
Shulamith  has  become  queen  without  surrendering  the  virtues  of  the  plain,  poor  country  maul, 
and  Solomon  has  become  Shulamith's  husband  without  losing  his  royal  dignity.  Solomon's  cha- 
racter in  fact  appears  in  twice  as  fine  a  light  in  his  self-humiliation,  and  so  does  Shulamith  in  her 
exaltation."  Further  considerations  respecting  the  ethical  character  of  the  two  lovers  and  the  typi- 
cal significance  of  their  relation  to  each  other,  and  its  place  iu  the  history  of  redemption,  will  be 
adduced  in  the  "doctrinal  and  ethical"  remarks  upon  each  section  of  the  Song, 

Remark  2.— Hitzio  has  attempted  to  treat  the  action  of  the  poem  as  purely  ideal,  as  mere  fa- 
ble or  fiction  without  historical  truth.  "  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,"  he  says  on  p.  3  of  his  Com- 
mentary, "that  a  real  history,  which  either  contained  this  moral  of  itself,  or  admitted  of  its  in- 
troduction, lies  at  the  basis  of  this  Song.  On  the  contrary,  some  occurrence  living  in  story  may 
have  suggested  just  this  dre.'^s.  If  it  concerned  merely  the  king  and  his  lady  love,  the  poet  might 
match  Solomon  and  Shulamith  about  as  well  as  Tryphon  and  Tryphasna.  The  partner  introduced 
for  Solomon  is  n'37l0n,    "  the  Shulamite,"  so  like  the  name  of  the  king,  that  the  resemblance 

•  [The  implication  that  the  lifo  of  tlio  people  of  God  \inder  the  Old  Testaniynt  waa  not  only  upon  a  lower  level,  lint  vr»it 
•pccifically  different  from  that  uniler  the  New  Tefltament,  belongs  t^t  the  philoaopliical  f-peciilaliona  wliich  Delitzsch  in 
fond  of  indulging.  He  conceives  tint  thn  fact  of  the  incarnation  introd  iced  an  entirely  new  element  into  liumau  n:ilurt 
which  did  not  exist,  and  could  not  have  oxiHti*d  prior  to  that  event.  -.Ta.] 


I  i.  THE  ETHICAL  IDEA  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  19 

cannot  be  mistaken.  Now  a  fair  damsel  from  Shunem  (Shulem)  really  was  at  one  time  brought 
to  court,  when  Solomon  was  young  (1  Kings  i  3,  4),  on  whose  account  Solomon  had  his  half-bro- 
ther put  to  death  for  proposing  to  marry  her,  1  Kings  ii.  13-25.  This  deed,  which  might  seem 
to  have  sprung  from  jealousy  (comp.  the  thesis  viii.  6 ;  Prov.  vi.  34  f.)  together  with  the  similarity 
of  "Shulamith"  and  "Solomon,"  may  have  first  determined  the  direction  in  which  the  idea 
should  incorporate  itself." — Against  this  combination  of  HiTZlo's  (substantially  adopted  by 
Weissbach,  p.  66  f ),  which  is  designed  to  show  the  mythical  character  of  the  piece,  may  be 
urged  in  general  all  the  probable  grounds  for  its  composition  by  Solomon  himself,  or  even  for  its 
originating  in  Solomon's  time,  which  were  presented  in  ^3;  and  in  particular  still  further :  1) 
the  complete  unison — not  partial  merely — between  the  historical  situation  described  in  the  piece 
and  the  state  of  culture  in  the  times  of  Solomon  as  depicted  in  the  books  of  Kings,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  absence  of  any  contradiction  between  the  Solomon  of  history  and  the  Solomon  of  this 
book,  together  with  the  numerous  striking  and  wholly  undesigned  coincidences  in  the  situation 
and  character  of  both.  2)  The  improbability  of  an  intentional  parallel  between  the  names  "  So- 
lomon" and  "Shulamith,"  which  have  no  surprising  similarity  of  sound,  and  are  not  contrasted 
any  where  in  the  piece,  though  opportunities  for  doing  so  were  not  rare  {ii.  16  ;  iv.  1  flf.;  vi.  3; 
vii.  11 ;  viii.  11  ff ).  3)  It  is  extremely  forced  and  far-fetched  to  identify  the  heroine  of  the  Song 
with  Abishag  of  Shunem,  David's  concubine,  and  especially  to  explain  viii.  6  of  a  supposed  jea- 
lousy about  this  Shulamitess,  which  might  have  moved  Solomon  to  put  his  brother  Adonijah  to 
death.  4)  It  is  a  very  probable  and  obvious  assumption  that  Shunem,  on  account  of  the  re- 
markable beauty  of  its  daughters,  may  bave  been  the  home  of  one  of  the  concubines  of  the  king 
of  Israel  in  more  instances  than  just  this  one,  1  Kmgs  i.  3,4,  and  that  this  furnishes  the  explana- 
tion of  the  gentile  denomination  of  the  heroine  of  this  piece  as  "  the  Shunamitess  "  (Shulamitess). 
5)  The  analogy  of  the  book  of  Job,  which  likewise  has  a  historical  fact  as  its  basis  underneath  its 
dramatic  form  (comp.  Hirzel,  Job,  p.  7ff.),  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  its  peculiarly  speculative 
character  seems  in  a  much  higher  degree  to  favor  the  assumption  that  its  contents  are  purely 
fictitious.* 

[Note  on  the  Inteepretation  of  the  Song  op  Solomon — By  the  Translator. — The  substi- 
tution of  the  typical  method,  for  which  Zockler  contends,  in  place  of  the  allegorical,  which  has 
hitherto  chiefly  prevailed  among  evangelical  interpreters  of  this  book,  marks  a  decided  and  most 
wholesome  advance  in  its  exposition.  It  is  bringing  into  the  study  of  the  Canticles  that  method 
which  has  been  applied  with  such  salutary  effect  to  the  investigation  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
general,  and  of  its  types  in  particular,  by  the  most  recent  and  able  biblical  scholars,  and  which 
13  represented,  for  example,  in  the  well-known  writings  of  Kurtz  and  Fairb.4.irn. 

1.  The  allegorical  method,  which  it  is  proposed  to  discard,  regards  the  persons  and  objects  de- 
scribed in  this  song,  as  in  themselves  unreal,  as  mere  figures  or  names  for  spiritual  persons  and 
objects,  which  latter  were  the  actual  and  only  things  contemplated  and  intended  by  the  inspired 
penman.  In  what  he  here  writes  of  Solomon  and  Shulamith  he  had  before  his  mind  not  two  real 
or  even  imaginary  persons  possessing  dofinite  characteristics,  and  sustaining  a  known  relation  to 
eich  other,  which  were  symbols  of  spiritual  characteristics  and  of  a  spiritual  relation,  the  con- 
leniplation  of  the  former  being  a  medium  through  which  he  and  others  might  rise  to  a  fuller  and 
more  correct  comprehension  of  the  latter.  But  in  all  the  language  which  he  employs  he  is  di- 
rectly and  consciously  describing  Christ  and  His  Church.  He  imputes  certain  physical  attributes 
or  outward  acts  to  Solomon,  but  it  is  not  because  they  in  fact  belonged  to  him  personally,  or 
were  appropriate  to  him  as  a  man,  a  monarch,  or  a  husband,  but  because  there  are  certain  attri- 
butes or  works  of  Christ,  of  winch  these  are  or  miy  be  constituted  emblems.  And  so  in  every 
expression  used  respecting  the  bride  he  is  not  depicting  a  human  person  real  or  ideal,  but  is 
simply  employing  a  figure  of  speech  which  is  to  be  applied  directly  to  the  Church,  and  which  finds 
its  justification  in  its  fitness  to  set  forth  some  feature  or  characteristic  of  the  Church. 

Hence,  it  happens  that  the  great  boily  of  the  alle:;oric  il  interpreters,  even  the  ablest  and  the 
best,  refrain  from  inquiring  into  the  meaning  of  the   language  used  in  its  literal  application,  as 


*[Iho  connecti'.n  of  Shiiliimith  with  Shunem  does  not  ewm  to  be  aa  certain,  «8  Zockibr  conceives  it,  thongli  hi» 
ni-huniBiif  the  book  ii  larg-ly  Imilt  npon  it.  The  Jerivmion  of  the  name  from  Solomon  has  oommendoil  itself  to  m.inj  w  hu 
iiavo  uo  Byiiipathy  with  [Iitzig'b  ridicul  uis  conceit  about  Vbishag. — Tr.J 


20  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

though  this  were  no  part  of  its  true  and  proper  intent,  but  apply  it  immediately  to  Christ  and 
His  Church  as  the  parties  directly  described,  and  the  only  ones,  in  fact,  who  come  fairly  within 
its  scope.  So  far  from  possessing  themselves  first  of  the  literal  sense  of  the  Song  in  its  primary 
application  to  the  sphere  of  natural  life,  and  making  this  the  basis  from  which  to  rise  to  a  spirit- 
ual significance  which  should  carry  the  same  principles  into  a  higher  sphere,  viewing  in  the  out- 
ward and  the  human  a  reflection  of  the  inward  and  divine,  they  positively  assert  that  no  consist- 
ent literal  sense  is  discoverable.  And  they  triumph  in  the  assertion  as  an  unanswerable  argu- 
ment, precluding  the  possibility  of  any  other  than  a  spiritual  interpretation,  whereas  they  are 
destroying  the  foundation  underneath  themselves,  and  making  it  impossible  upon  their  princi- 
ples to  build  up  any  exposition  of  the  book  which  shall  not  rest  upon  the  sand.  It  is  certainly  a 
most  extraordinary  procedure  by  which  to  substantiate  the  claim  that  the  spiritual  and  the  di- 
vine are  in  this  Song  set  forth  under  tlie  image  of  the  earthly,  to  annihilate  the  latter  with  a  view 
to  e.xalting  the  former.  If  there  is  no  substance  nor  consistency  in  the  earthly  image,  what  be- 
comes of  the  heavenly  counterpart?  They  who  proclaim  that  they  can  make  no  consistent  sense 
of  the  Song  in  its  literal  acceptation,  should  remember  that  the  natural  presumption  wi.l  be  not 
that  no  such  sense  e.xists,  but  that  they  have  failed  to  find  the  key  to  its  understanding.  And 
if  they  cannot  interpret  the  earthly  meaning  which  lies  upon  the  surface,  what  assurance  can 
they  give  that  they  are  safe  guides  to  its  heavenly  and  hidden  mysteries?  What  is  this  but  to 
play  into  the  hands  of  those  who  claim  that  they  can  give  a  consistent  sense  to  it  literally  under- 
derstood,  and  that  no  higher  meaning  is  necessary  or  possible? 

We  greatly  deprecate  such  language  as  the  following  from  so  devout  and  evangelical  a  com- 
mentator as  W^oEDSWORTH  :  "  Upon  the  principles  of  the  literal  interpretation,  how  can  it  be  ex- 
plained that  in  the  Canticles,  the  bridegroom  is  called  by  such  variou.s  names?  How  are  we  to 
account  fgr  the  fact  that  the  same  person,  who  is  called  the  beloved,  is  also  designated  as  a  king, 
as  King  Solomon,  as  a  shepherd,  as  feeding  among  lilies,  as  an  owner  of  a  garden  and  of  a  vine- 
yard, which  he  has  let  out  to  keepers,  and  of  which  he  will  require  the  fruit?"  This  is,  in  our 
]udgment,  simply  a  concession  to  those  who  insist  that  there  is  more  than  one  lover  here  spoken 
ot,  or  who  make  of  the  Song  itself  a  jumble  of  incoherent  fragments.  Again,  we  must  utter 
our  most  vehement  protest  against  such  statements  as  these  from  the  same  able  writer:  "  If  the 
objects  to  which  the  bride  is  compared  in  the  Canticles  are  understood  in  their  literal  sense,  such 
a  picture  will  be  produced  as  would  deserve  to  be  censured  and  condemned  in  the  strong  lan- 
guage of  the  Roman  critic  denouncing  a  tasteless  and  ill-assorted  rhapsody  of  incongruous  enor- 
mities." "  How,  again,  are  we  to  interpret  the  description  of  the  bridegroom's  features  ?  Ex- 
pounded literally,  some  of  tlie  details  in  the  portrait  are  absurd  and  ridiculous,  others  are  even 
repulsive  and  revolting."  It  becomes  a  question  whether  it  is  not  more  reverential  to  divine  in- 
spiration to  abandon  the  spiritual  sense  altogether,  if  it  can  only  be  maintained  by  thus  vilifying 
this  sacred  Song. 

2.  Besides  this  neglect  and  undue  depreciation  of  the  literal  sense,  we  object  to  the  allogoricai 
method,  in  the  second  place,  that  it  inverts  the  true  relation  between  the  outward  form  and  tiifc 
spiritual  substance  in  this  Song.  By  an  original  divine  constitution  there  are  thoughts  ana 
ideas  embodied  in  the  sphere  of  natural  life,  which  reach  into  the  spiritual  sphere,  and  these  ara 
made  use  of  as  helps  for  climbing  from  the  lower  to  the  higher.  We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the 
divine  economy  in  this  matter.  There  was  not,  first,  the  communication  of  a  complete  system  o( 
doctrine  in  its  fulness  and  in  abstract  form,  which  the  sacred  writer,  being  in  entire  possession 
of,  seeks  to  impart  to  others— and  in  so  doing,  looks  about  for  some  analogy  which  he  strives  to 
adapt  to  it,  even  at  the  risk  of  utterly  distorting  the  inferior  object  which  he  so  employs.  But 
tlie  type  comes  before  the  doctrine,  and  is  preparatory  to  it.  God  places  before  the  eyes  of  His 
inspired  servants,  and  through  them  before  all  others,  these  outward  types,  with  their  correspond- 
ences to  the  heavenly  and  divine.  These  natural  objects  and  relations  furnish  the  lessons  which 
under  divine  guidance  they  are  to  study,  by  which  they  are  to  be  educated  to  the  comprehension 
of  the  spiritual,  which  is  wrapped  up  in  them,  and  which  they  are  adapted  to  convey. 

.3.  The  allegorical  method  further  violates  the  analogy  of  Old  Testament  instruction.  This  was 
once  the  favorite  mode  of  dealing  with  types,  but  it  led  to  such  fanciful,  grotesque  and  far-fetched 
explanations  as  to  bring  the  whole  subject  of  typology  into  disrepute,  and  it  has  now  been  dis- 


g  4.  THE  ETHICAL  IDEA  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  21 

carded  by  sober  inquirers.  The  true  principles  are  thus  stated  by  Prof.  Faibbairn,  Typology. 
I.,  pp.  81  ff.:  "  In  the  interpretation  of  types  our  first  care  must  be  to  make  ourselves  acquainted 
with  the  truths  or  ideas  involved  in  them  merely  as  providential  transactions  or  religious  ser- 
vices— to  make  what  they  were  in  their  immediate  relation  to  the  patriarchal  or  religious  wor- 
shipper, the  ground  and  matter  of  what,  as  typical,  they  are  now  to  the  Christian."  "  Their  typi- 
cal import  is  not  something  apart  from  their  natural  and  immediate  design,  but  consisting  of  lliat 
and  growing  out  of  it."  "The  essential  character  and  objects  of  the  transaction,  in  which  the 
type  consists,  become  thus  the  ground  and  matter  of  its  typical  relation  to  the  realities  of  the  gos- 
pel. But  if  we  shiuld  proceed  in  an  oppasite  direction  and  make  the  essential  qualities  of  the 
antitype  the  measure  of  what  we  are  to  expect  in  the  type,  then,  as  a  matter  of  course,  we  shall 
be  driven  to  seek  in  the  latter  many  trifling  and  fanciful  resemblances,  which  have  no  idea  or 
principle  in  them  whatever."  The  Messianic  teaching  of  the  Psalms,  which  belong  to  the  same 
stage  of  divine  revelation  with  the  Song  of  Solomon,  is  entirely  of  the  typical  character.  It  is' 
wholly  drawn  from  the  personal  experience  or  the  official  position  of  David  or  of  Solomon,  more 
or  less  idealized,  with  or  without  a  removal  of  human  limitations.  It  is  not  until  we  reach  the 
period  of  the  prophets  that  the  typicil  element  recedes  into  the  background,  and  is  partially, 
though  not  entirely,  superseded  by  a  m^re  didactic  style  of  instruction.  No  one  can  fail  to  re- 
cognize the  distinction  in  this  respect  between  Canticles  and  Ezekiel,  ch.  xvi.,  xxiii. 

4.  It  also  disregards  the  needs  of  the  people  of  God  under  the  Old  Testament.  It  must  be 
assumed  that  Canticles,  like  every  other  boolc  of  Scripture,  had  its  special  adaptation  to  the  wants 
of  those  for  whom  it  was  immediately  prepared.  It  was  part  of  the  divine  system  of  instruction 
under  which  they  were  placed,  and  had  its  determinate  function  to  fulfil  in  preparation  for  Him 
that  was  to  come.  Now  if  it  contained  the  mysteries  which  allegorical  interpreters  find  hidden 
under  its  language,  it  must  have  been  to  its  earliest  readers  a  sealed  book.  They  did  not  have 
before  them  the  detailed  history  and  doctrine  of  Christ  and  His  Church,  from  which  conjecturally 
to  fit  expressions  in  the  Song  by  a  mere  casual  and  superficial  similitude.  Nor  could  they  be  ex- 
pected to  have  any  inkling  whatever  of  the  meaning  of  passages,  whose  sense  is  elicited  by  pun- 
ning upon  words,  as  though  the  "  chains,"  i.  10,  represent  the  ''  law,"  because  D")ir\  bears  some 
resemblance  in  sound  to  mw,  and  the  ''Cyprus  flower,"  i.  14,  alludes  to  the  atonement  because 
of  an  ambiguity  in  the  word  133.  If  this  is  the  way  that  Canticles  is  to  be  expounded,  it  is  a 
mere  book  of  riddles,  whose  solution  is  sufficiently  puzzling  and  doubtful  with  all  the  facts  and 
teachings  of  the  gospels  before  us,  but  which  could  not  possibly  be  comprehended  while  the  ob- 
jects referred  to  were  still  veiled  by  the  future.  If,  hosvever,  the  language  of  Canticles  describes 
not  future  or  unknown  objects  in  enigmatical  terms,  but  scenes  real  or  ideal  belonging  to  the  sphere 
of  earthly  love,  which  is  a  symbol  of  the  heavenly,  then  the  analogies  of  thought  must  lead  di- 
rectly from  one  to  the  other.  And  Solomon's  contemporaries,  as  well  as  later  generations,  could 
rise  at  least  to  a  partial  comprehension  of  its  meaning;  not,  it  is  true,  to  an  exhaustive  under- 
standing of  it,  for  the  deep  meaning  of  Scripture  grows  with  growing  light  and  fuller  knowledge 
and  further  revelation.  But  the  more  advanced  interpretation  must  lie  in  the  line  just  indicated, 
only  penetrating  further,  not  in  the  way  of  loading  the  text  with  far-fetched  and  fanciful  senses. 
Scripture  does  not  have  a  multiple  sense,  if  by  this  be  meant  that  it  is  to  bear  every  signification 
■which  can  by  possibility  be  put  upon  its  disconnected  words;  but  the  ideas  manifestly  underlying  it 
may  be  followed  out  into  further  developments  and  wider  applications. 

5.  Our  last  objection  to  the  allegorical  method  is  that  it  cmnot  achieve  a  well  grounded  and  satis- 
factory interpretation  of  this  book.  It  loses  itself  perpetually  in  details,  where  it  spends  its 
strength  in  random  guess-work.  The  ingenuity  with  which  this  may  be  done,  and  the  devout 
Bpirit  with  which  it  may  be  pervaded,  cannot  alter  the  essentially  vicious  character  of  the  pro- 
cess. As  Adam  Clarke  justly  says,  he  could  make  anything  whatever  out  of  this  Song  that  he 
was  disposed  to  make,  if  he  were  allowed  equal  liberty  :  he  could  find  Arminianism  in  it  or  any 
type  of  doctrine  he  chose.  The  pious  use  made  of  the  language  of  the  book  cannot  redeem  it 
from  the  charge  of  mal-interpretation.  It  is  not  exposition  but  substituting  human  fancies  for 
the  true  meaning  and  intent  of  the  divine  Word.  The  pious  senses  inserted,  the  edifying  re- 
flections and  the  devout  meditations  do  not  sanctify  a  mode  of  dealing  with  the  book  of  God  so 
utterly  unwarrantable. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


This  mode  of  expounding  each  separate  particular,  not  with  a  view  to  its  place  in  the  des- 
cription in  which  it  stands,  but  as  a  distinct  reference  to  the  spiritual  object  typified  by  it,  neces- 
garily  leads  both  to  a  senous  distonioa  of  the  lessons  to  be  conveyed,  and  to  a  marring  and 
mangling  of  the  symmetry  and  beauty  of  the  objects  depicted.  Thus  Dr.  Addison  Alexandeb 
in  his  Commentary  on  Isaiah  v.  3,  "  The  parable,  as  a  whole,  corresponds  to  its  subject  as  a  whole 
but  all  the  particulars  included  in  the  one,  are  not  separately  intended  to  denote  particulars  in- 
cluded in  the  other.  A  lion  may  be  a  striking  emblem  of  a  hero  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  mane,  claws,  etc.,  of  the  beast  must  all  be  significant  of  something  in  the  man.  Nay,  tley 
cannot  even  be  supposed  to  be  so,  without  sensibly  detracting  from  the  force  and  beauty  of  the 
image  as  a  whole."  See  also  similar  language  used  on  Isaiah  Ix.  7,  and  in  his  Commentary  on 
Mark  iv.  13,  and  xii.  6.  Is  it  surprising  that  Woedswoeth  could  see  no  beauty  in  the  figures 
of  this  book  literally  understood  after  mercilessly  carving  them  to  shapeless  fragments  by  his 
dissecting  knife? 

For  these  reasons  we  believe  the  typical  to  be  the  true  method  of  interpreting  this  Song,  and 
we  shall  conceive  it  to  be  a  most  important  service  rendered  by  this  commentary  if  it  shall  in 
any  measure  contribute  to  check  the  unbridled  extravagance  of  the  prevalent  devotion  to  alle- 
gory and  encourage  a  simpler  and  juster  style  of  interpretation.  According  to  the  typical  un- 
derstanding of  Canticles,  which  has  already  been  characterized  in  the  general,  but  may  here  be 
more  exactly  described,  its  primary  subject  and  that  which  is  denoted  by  its  language  in  its 
literal  acceptation  is  the  loving  intercourse  of  king  Solomon  and  his  bride.  But  in  consequence 
of  Solomon's  representative  character  as  the  vicegerent  and  type  of  the  divine  king  of  Israel, 
his  individual  and  earthly  relations  become  the  mirror  of  the  spiritual  and  the  heavenly.  His 
human  love  to  the  woman  of  his  choice  is  the  symbol  of  the  love  of  God  to  His  elect  people,  of 
Jehovah  to  Israel,  of  Christ  to  His  church.  This  latter  is  not  directly  and  enigmatically  described 
by  the  terms  of  the  Song,  but  is  shadowed  forth  by  the  scenes  and  the  feelings  which  are  de- 
picted in  it.  The  Solomon  of  the  Song  is  not  the  heavenly,  but  the  earthly  Solomon:  he  is  pre- 
sented, however,  not  in  his  individual  personality  merely,  but  in  the  capacity  of  a  king  and  a 
lover  or  a  husband,  thus  suggesting  the  ideal  king  and  the  ideal  lover,  and  to  this  extent,  and  in 
t'lis  manner,  shadowing  forth  the  greatest  and  most  glorious  of  monarchs,  the  most  tender  and 
affectionate,  the  most  loving  and  the  best  of  bridegrooms,  Jehovah-Jesus. 

The  very  first  step  toward  the  correct  understanding  of  this  book  as  of  any  type,  or  parable, 
or  similitude  whatsoever  is  the  inquiry  after  its  literal  sense, — what  is  the  object  itself  that  is  here 
presented?  It  is  impossible  to  develop  the  spiritual  meaning  of  a  symbol  until  it  is  first  ascer- 
tained what  the  symbol  is.  The  literal  sense  is  the  foundation  of  the  whole.  If  this  be  not  cor- 
rectly gathered  and  distinctly  apprehended,  every  ulterior  result  is  vitiated.  The  most  cursory 
inspection  shows  this  book  to  relate  to  the  loving  intercourse  of  a  bridegroom  and  his  bride. 
But  what  is  the  precise  nature  and  the  mutual  relations  of  the  several  scenes  depicted?  Do  the 
various  parts  cohere  in  one  connected  narrative,  which  traces  through  successive  steps  the  grow- 
ing intimacy  of  the  loving  pair  ?  if  so,  what  is  the  story,  or  the  plot  which  forms  the  ground  work 
of  the  book?  Or  does  it  contain  a  series  of  detached  scenes,  each  complete  in  itself?  if  so, 
what  are  the  limits  of  each,  and  what  the  precise  situation  and  action  depicted  in  it?  Is  the 
whole  prior  to  marriage,  or  subsequent  to  marriage,  or  does  the  marriage  occur  in  the  course  of 
the  Song,  and  if  so,  where?  A  true  conception  must  first  be  gained  of  the  book  in  the  exhibi- 
tion which  it  makes  of  the  human  love  described  in  it,  before  we  can  be  prepared  to  understand 
the  particular  aspect,  method,  or  measures  of  divine  love  which  it  is  adapted  to  set  forth. 

The  service  performed  by  the  erotic  commentators  on  this  Song  in  the  history  of  interpreta- 
tion, is  that  of  directing  attention  to  this  most  astonishing  oversight  on  the  part  of  the  allegoiists, 
one  extreme  as  usual  generating  its  opposite,  and  thus  preparing  the  way  for  its  own  correction. 
The  egregious  perversions  of  the  literal  sense  by  those  who  have  bestowed  upon  it  their  exclu- 
sive attention  can  only  be  fairly  refuted  and  their  utter  baselessness  shown,  when  the  correct 
scheme  of  this  book  shall  be  fully  drawn  out  and  fortified  in  every  part. 

In  our  opinion  Zocklee  has  not  been  as  successful  in  his  results  as  he  is  correct  in  his  method. 
Neither  he  nor  Delitzsch,  whom  he  follows  with  some  mollifications,  has  solved  the  problem  of 
the  book  so  far  as  to  make  a  faithful  exhibit  of  its  literal  sense.     They  are  both  captivated  with 


2  4.  THE  ETHICAL  IDEA  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


the  idea,  which  we  are  persuaded  is  fallacious,  of  finding  a  regularly  unfolded  plot,  and  in  their 
eagerness  to  make  out  continuity  and  progress  they  have  obtruded  upon  this  sacred  poem  what 
tinds  no  warrant  in  its  text,  and  marred  the  artless  sunpiicity  of  its  struclure  by  needless  com- 
plications. A  complete  and  satisfactory  presentation  of  the  literal  sense  of  Oanticles  is  a  very 
I'l-eat  desideratum ;  and  this  is  the  direction  in  which  we  are  disposed  to  look  with  the  greatest 
hope  for  further  progress  in  unfolding  its  more  profound  inystenes. 

Upon  the  literal  is  built  the  ethical  sense.  Delitzsch  here  loses  himself  too  much  in  a  mere 
romantic  sentimentalisra.  The  erotic  interpreters,  as  Ginsbdeg,  discover  an  example  of  virtue 
superior  to  the  greatest  temptations  ;  they  make  it  a  story  of  faithful  love  shown  in  a  maiden, 
whom  the  kinc^  by  all  his  arts  and  by  the  most  dazzling  allurements  cannot  seduce  from  her 
shepherd  lover  to  whom  she  had  given  her  heart.  Zockler  here  attempts  a  compromise  which 
is  an  attitude  he  frequently  occupies  in  the  course  of  his  commentary.  He  drops  the  shepherd 
Inver,  but  still  represents  Solomon  in  an  unfavorable  though  less  repulsive  light,  and  makes  all 
the  pure  and  elevating  influence  proceed  from  Shulamith,  who  is  the  true  heroine  of  the  Song, 
and  by  whom  her  royal  husband  is  completely  over-shadowed.  The  discontent  with  Solomon's 
court  and  with  the  style  of  life  prevailing  there,  which  Delitzsch  aiBrms,  is  pushed  by  Zockler 
to  what  is  perhaps  its  legitimate  result,  dissatisfaction  with  Solomon  himself  who  was  tainted 
by  the  corrupting  influences  around  hiiu.  She  however  wins  the  proud  lord  of  a  harem  com- 
pletely to  herself  and  makes  him  all  her  own;  from  love  to  her  he  forsakes  his  voluptuous  court 
for  the  retirement  and  gentle  pleasures  of  her  country  home.  He  thus  finds  in  it  the  triumph  of 
chastity  over  sensuality,  of  a  pure  monogamy  over  the  voluptuousness  of  polygamy. 

We  cannot  deny  that  there  is  a  certain  attractiveness  at  the  first  view  in  the  thought  of  a  re- 
buke to  polygamy  in  the  person  of  one,  by  whom  it  was  carried  to  such  unheard  of  excess,  if  it 
were  not  that  the  whole  thing  is  imported  into  the  Song  by  the  mere  fancy  of  the  interpreter. 
Whatever  unfavorable  surmises  might  attach  to  Solomon's  life  as  recorded  in  Kings,  there  is 
nothing  whatever  in  this  book  to  justify  them.  He  says  and  does  nothing  to  warrant  the  sus- 
picion of  a  want  of  constancy  in  his  love  for  Shulamith  or  a  fickle  preference  for  others.  Shula- 
mith never  betrays  any  apprehension  that  she  has  not  her  full  share  of  his  love,  or  that  his  conduct 
belies  his  professions  of  fond  attachment.  The  temporary  separation — it  can  scarcely  be  called  es- 
trangement— which  gives  her  so  much  pain,  is  traced  by  herself  to  her  own  drowsy  inaction,  v. 
i.  The  only  allusion  to  the  existing  number  of  queens,  vi.  8,  is  for  the  sake  of  ranking  her  above 
them  all  as  the  idol  of  her  husband's  heart.  The  daughters  of  Jerusalem  never  appear  as  rivals, 
toward  whom  Shulamith  expresses  or  cherishes  any  jealousy.  But  apart  from  the  unfounded  pre- 
sumptions on  which  the  whole  is  based,  it  involves  a  preposterous  conflict  between  Solomon's 
regal  dignity  and  his  married  state,  that  in  order  to  possess  Shulamith  as  his  own,  and  be  com- 
pletely hers,  he  should  have  to  abandon  his  capital  and  his  court  and  the  occupations  of  royalty, 
and  go  to  live  with  her  in  her  mother's  house  at  Shunem.  And  further,  it  is  a  most  extraordi- 
nary mode  of  inculcating  monogamy  for  Shulamith  to  marry  a  king  already  the  possessor  of 
sixty  queens,  and  then  to  set  about  securing  him  entirely  to  herself,  and  leading  him  to  abandon 
all  the  rest.  Would  not  this  be  more  like  the  artful  intriguing  favorite  than  the  guileless,  sim- 
ple-hearted child  of  nature,  which  she  is  represented  as  being? 

All  that  can  in  fairness  be  made  out  of  the  ethical  view  of  this  book,  as  it  appears  to  us,  is 
that  two  parties  are  here  described  who  live  in  and  for  each  other.  Proofs  and  instances  are 
given  of  their  devotion  and  fondness,  their  ardent  longing  for  each  other  when  separated,  their 
lielight  in  each  other  when  united,  their  increased  enjoyment  in  every  source  of  pleasure,  of 
which  they  partake  together.  The  constancy,  the  tenderness,  the  purity,  the  fervor  of  wedded 
love,  finds  repeated  and  varied  exemplification.  Canticles  does  not  rise  to  the  inculcation  of 
monogamy  nor  assert  for  marriage  that  according  to  its  primeval  institution  and  its  true  idea 
it  must  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman.  It  alludes  to  polvgamy,  vi.  8,  without  disallowing 
or  positively  prohibiting  it  as  an  offence  against  the  ordinance  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  man.  It 
belongs  to  a  dispensation  under  which  for  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts  this  institution  had  been 
sufl'ered  to  be  clouded,  and  its  original  brightness  dimmed.  It  issues  no  interdict  against  po- 
lygamy, but  it  undermines  it.  First,  by  drying  up  its  source.  It  exhibits  a  style  of  intercourse 
between  the  sexes  which  is  pure,  elevated  and  refined,  sensitive  to  the  charms  of  beauty  and  of  per- 


24  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

sonal  attractions,  but  without  a  trace  of  sensuality.  There  is  no  grossness,  no  impurity,  no  in- 
delicacy even.  Everything  of  that  nature  which  has  been  attached  to  this  gem  of  songs,  should 
be  laid  to  the  account  of  mistranslation  or  misinterpretation.  Secondly,  ijy  raising  up  an  ad- 
versary too  powerful  for  it.  This  Song  depicts  a  mutual  love  which  is  absolutely  exclusive, 
ii.  2,  16;  iv.  12;  vi.  3,  9;  vii.  10;  viii.  6,  7;  and  before  which  polygamy  must  fall,  not  be- 
cause it  is  forbidden,  but  because  it  cannot  be  endured. 

Greatly  as  we  approve  of  Zockler's  typical  method  of  dealing  with  Canticles,  we  cannot 
accept  what  is  peculiar  in  the  typical  views  which  he  deduces  from  it.  This  follows,  of  course, 
from  the  exceptions  we  have  taken  to  his  literal  conception  of  it,  upon  which  it  is  based.  Some 
may  probably  be  shocked  by  the  fact  that  he  represents  Shulamith  as  Solomon's  superior  in  point 
of  virtue  and  purity,  and  the  instrument  of  working  at  least  a  temporary  change  for  the  better  in 
him,  while  at  the  same  time  he  says  that  Solomon  and  Shulamith  are  types  of  the  Lord  and  His 
church.  This,  however,  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  to  condemn  his  view.  All  types  have  their 
deficiencies.  Some  are  deplorably  defective,  without  after  all  ceasing  to  be  types.  There  is  a 
real  foundation  for  what  Zockleb  calls  types  of  analogy  and  types  of  contrast,  or  as  we  have 
ourselves  been  in  the  habit  of  designating  them,  direct  and  inverse  types,  the  former  being  ob- 
jects which  directly  shadow  forth  the  future  good,  and  the  latter  such  as  stand  in  opposition  to 
it  or  represent  a  want  which  it  can  supply.  And  in  every  individual  type  there  are  at  the  same 
time  elements  of  correspondence  with  the  ultimate  ideal  and  of  divergence  from  it,  both  of  which 
must  be  taken  into  the  account  if  its  full  lessons  are  to  be  unfolded. 

If  the  question  respected  the  typical  character  of  Solomon  on  the  whole,  as  a  personage  in  the 
sacred  History,  it  could  not  be  objected  that  a  more  unfavorable  view  is  taken  of  him  than  the 
facts  recorded  warrant.  And  it  may  be  added  that  in  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  which  is  inversely 
or  negatively  Messianic,  the  kingdom  of  Solomon  is  shown  upon  its  unsatisfying  side,  in  which  it 
presents  a  marked  contrast  with  that  of  his  great  antitype.  We  are  now,  however,  solely  con- 
cerned with  Solomon  as  he  is  represented  in  the  Song  of  songs.  The  typical,  as  the  other  les- 
sons of  the  Song  must  be  drawn  from  itself,  without  any  such  supplement  at  least  from  other 
sources  as  would  distort  the  image  presented  here.  A  picture  is  presented  tons  belonging  to 
the  sphere  of  natural  life;  this  must  be  simply  transferred  to  the  spiritual  sphere  to  yield  its 
typical  or  higher  meaning.  Features  of  Solomon's  character  which  would  have  marred  the 
significance  or  effect  of  the  whole,  may  be  neglected  or  lost  sight  of.  They  do  not  belong  to  the 
conception  of  this  Song,  which  must  be  interpreted  by  itself. 

Did  the  writer  of  this  book  intend  anything  more  than  the  literal  and  ethical  sense  ?  Zockler 
thinks  not.  He  supposes  him  to  have  composed  this  poem,  setting  forth  this  incident  in  the 
life  of  Solomon.  He  had  no  more  in  his  mind  than  the  human  parties,  the  play  of  their  affec- 
tions, and  the  fond  relation  constituted  between  them.  But  the  nature  of  the  transaction  itself, 
and  the  position  of  the  principal  actor  in  the  sacred  history  impart  to  it  a  typical  import,  of 
which  Solomon  himself,  in  writing  it,  had  no  conception.  Its  connection  with  Solomon,  and  its 
ethical  bearings  in  his  view  justify  its  place  among  the  sacred  oracles,  even  apart  from  its  mys- 
tical meaning.  This  is  a  question  of  some  difficulty.  For,  1.  It  cannot  be  affirmed  that  the 
book  itself  contains  any  clear  indication  of  its  higher  meaning ;  what  has  been  adduced  as 
showing  that  the  writer  intended  something  more  profound  than  lies  upon  the  surface,  is  mostly 
of  doubtful  interpretation,  and  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  produce  conviction.  2.  Such  instances  as 
Ruth,  Esther,  and  many  of  the  Proverbs  may  make  us  cautious  in  undertaking  to  determine  in 
advance  what  amount  of  evident  religious  character  is  necessary  to  entitle  a  book  to  admission 
to  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  3.  The  sacred  historians  in  all  probability  were  ignorant 
of  the  typical  nature  of  much  th.at  they  have  recorded. 

Nevertheless,  we  cannot  but  believe  that  the  writer  of  this  divine  Song  recognized  the  sym- 
bolical character  of  that  love,  which  he  has  here  embellished.  The  typical  character  of  the 
king  of  Israel  was  familiarly  known,  as  is  apparent  from  many  of  the  Psalms.  The  typical 
character  of  Solomon's  own  reign  was  well  understood  by  himself,  as  appears  from  Psalm  Ixxii. 
That  the  Lord's  relation  to  His  people  was  conceived  of  as  a  marriage  from  the  time  of  the 
covenant  at  Sinai,  is  .shown  by  repeated  expressions  that  imply  it,  in  the  law  of  Moses.  That 
under  these  circumstances,  the  marriage  of  the  King  of  Israel  should  carry  the  thoughts  up  Vy 


I  5.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  25 


a  ready  and  spontaneous  association  to  the  covenant-relation  of  the  King  par  excellence  to  the 
people,  whom  He  had  espoused  to  Himself,  is  surely  no  extravagant  supposition,  even  if  the 
analogous  instance  of  Psalm  xlv.  did  not  remove  it  from  the  region  of  conjecture  to  that  of 
established  fact.  The  mystical  use  made  of  marriage  so  frequently  in  the  subsequent  scriptures, 
with  evident  and  even  verbal  allusion  to  this  Song,  and  the  constant  interpretation  of  both  the 
Synagogue  and  the  Church,  show  the  naturalness  of  the  symbol,  and  enhance  the  probability 
that  the  writer  himself  saw  what  the  great  body  of  his  readers  have  found  in  his  production. 
And  whatever  may  be  said  apologetically  of  the  saoredness  of  this  book,  if  its  inspired  author 
intended  it  in  its  literal  sense  alone,  it  exalts  it  so  prodigiously,  and  frees  it  so  completely  from 
every  shadow  of  objection,  to  suppose  him  to  have  employed  this  symbol  with  some  conscious- 
ness of  its  sacred  meaning,  that  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  that  the  wise  King  of  Israel  was 
so  blind  as  some  have  imagined  him  to  be.  And  I  am  not  sure  but  the  absence  of  the  name 
of  God,  and  of  any  distinctive  religious  expressions  throughout  the  Song  is  thus  to  be  accounted 
for  that  the  writer,  conscious  of  the  parabolic  character  of  what  he  is  describing,  felt  that  there 
would  be  an  incongruity  in  mingling  the  symbol  with  the  thing  symbohzed.  See  Isaac 
Tayloe's  Spirit  of  the  Hebrew  Poetry,  pp.  174,  5]. 

I  5.      HISTOEY   and    LITERATUEE    (BIBLIOGEAPHY)    OF   THE     INTERPRETATION    OF   THE   SONG    OP 

SOLOMON. 

a.  Ths  allegorical  attempts  at  explanation  in  ancient  and  modern  times* 
It  is  as  impossible  to  deny  that  the  mystical  and  allegorical  view  of  the  Song  of  Solomon, 
which  entirely  disregards  the  literal  sense,  and  sees  nothing  in  it  but  an  exhibition  in  a  figura- 
tive dress,  of  the  covenant-relation  between  Jehovah  and  Israel,  or  of  the  loving  communion 
of  Messiah  with  His  Church,  may  have  had  advocates  among  the  Jewish  scribes  before  the  close 
of  the  Old  Testament  canon,  as  it  is  to  prove  that  this  view  was  the  only  one  in  the  period 
before  Christ,  or  that  it  was  the  conditio  sine  qua  nan  of  the  reception  of  the  book  into  the 
canon.  For  neither  the  acquaintance  which  the  author  of  Prov.  i-ix,xxii.-xxiv  betrays  with  it 
(see  ^  3,  Rem.  1),  nor  the  frequent  use  made  of  it  by  the  prophet  Hosea  at  a  somewhat  later 
period  (comp.  Hos.  xiv.  6-9  with  Cant.  ii.  1,  v.  15,  iv.  11,  vi.  11,  etc.),  affords  any  certain  proof 
that  the  allegorical  explanation  was  already  cultivated  before  the  exile  at  the  expense  of  the 
historical.  That  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Talmud  (see  R.  Az.\rias  in  Meor  Enaim, 
p.  175  h),  Ezra  only  admitted  such  books  to  the  canon  as  "  were  composed  by  the  prophets  in 
the  Holy  Spirit,"  can  no  more  be  esteemed  a  historical  testimony  for  the  exclusive  prevalence 
of  the  allegorical  interpretation  at  the  time  of  the  collection  of  the  canon,  than  the  statement 
of  the  Taequm  on  i.  1,  that  the  Song  of  Songs  was  sung  "  by  Solomon  the  prophet  and  king 
of  Israel  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy."  Nor  can  any  proof  be  brought  from  the  Old  Testament 
Apocrypha  of  the  existence  of  the  allegorical  mode  of  interpretation  before  the  time  of  Christ. 
The  passages  adduced  for  this  purpose  by  Rosenmtjellee,  Wisd,  viii.  2,  9,  16, 18 ;  Eccles.  x.xiv. 
18, 19,  by  no  means  necessarily  imply  that  the  bride  of  the  Canticles  was  taken  to  be  the  divine 
wisdom ;  and  against  the  validity  of  the  passage  Eccles.  xlvii.  15-17  urged  by  Keil,  even 
Henqstenbeeg  has  shown  that  Solomon's  irupm/itat,  ■Kapajio'Xai  and  ipn7{vtlai,  "  proverbs, 
parables  and  interpretations"  h^re  extolled,  simply  refer  to  the  proverbs  and  enigmatical  say- 
ings of  the  king  mentioned,  1  Kin.  v.  12  (iv.  32)  ff.,  x.  1  ff ,  not  to  any  mystical  sense  of  thi.s 
"Song  of  songs."  Nor  can  the  Septuag.  be  adduced  as  representing  the  allegorical  interpre- 
tation of  this  Song;  for  though  it  renders  Hjr^X  t^XSO  iv.  8  by  avo  apxK  ^'lOTeu^  and  rii'7»7^  by 
if  cvioKia,  these  are  errors  of  translation,  which  only  show  that  the  two  localities  in  question 
(Amanaand  Tirzah)  were  no  longer  known  to  the  authors  of  the  Alexandrian  version.  No 
certain  traces  of  a  use  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  an  allegorical  sense  can  be  pointed  out  even 
in  the  writings  of  Philo  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  New  Testament,  where,  at  the  utmost 
Rev.  iii.  20  might  be  regarded  as  an  expression   taken  from  the  Song  of  Solomon,  explained  of 

*  Comp.  iu  general  Ed.  Ounitz,  Histoiro  Critique  Jo  1  interproMtion  du  Cant,  ties  Cantiques.  Srasburg,  1834,  [also  the 
account  given  of  preceding  commentjitors  in  the  commentaries  of  W1LU.4MS,  pp.l08-12G,  Ginsburg,  pp.  20-102,  Moody  Stuart 
pp.  G2rt-640,  and  TflRUPP  pp.  16-36,  of  which  the  translator  has  freely  availed  himself  in  such  additions  as  he  has  thought  it 
needful  to  make.] 


26  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

the  Messiah,  but  is  more  probably  to  be  traced,  like  what  is  elsewhere  said  of  Christ  as  th« 
bridegroom  of  His  Church  (e.  g.  Mat.  ix.  15,  John  in.  29,  etc.),  to  the  correspoudiiig  ideas  and 
expressions  in  the  figurative  language  of  the  prophets  in  general*  Comp.  g  4,  p.  16,  and  in 
opposition  to  the  different  judgment  expressed  by  HENosruNBERG  respecting  these  passages  of 
the  New  Testament,  comp.  especially  Umbreit  in  Herzug's  Real  Encyc,  vol.  vi.  p.  207  f. 

Accordingly,  it  is  not  until  the  period  after  Christ  and  His  apostles  thai  really  unmistakable 
traces  are  found  of  the  allegorical  understanding  and  treatment  of  the  Song  of  Solomon ;  and  in 
the  first  instance  in  the  way  that  the  author  of  the  fourth  bouk  of  Esdras,  an  apocalyptic  pro- 
duction of  a  Jewish  Christian,  written  probably  in  the  time  of  Domitian,  uses  the  expressions 
■•lily"  and  "dove,"  v.  24,  26,  with  unmistakable  reference  to  Cant.  ii.  1,  vi.  9,  as  mystical 
designations  of  the  Church  of  God.  Then  in  an  allegorical  explanation  of  iii.  1 1,  given  by  R. 
Simon  ees  Gamaliel  about  the  year  120  of  the  Christian  era  (see  Taanith,  IV.  8) ;  and 
finally  in  the  solemn  asseveration  of  R  Akiba,  the  celebrated  contemporary  of  this  R.  Simon 
(in  Yadaim  III.  5),  that  Canticles  defiles  the  hands,  and  is  to  be  regarded  not  only  as  a  holy, 
but  in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  the  Hagiographa  as  a  most  holy  bookf  (Q'i^''p  l^lp).  The 
Synagogue,  from  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  must  have  universally  proceeded  on 
the  assumption  attested  by  this  declaration  of  a  hidden  allegorical  sense  to  this  book.  For 
Oriqen  and  Jerome  testify  that  it  was  a  universal  custom  among  the  Jews  in  their  time,  not 
to  allow  any  one  to  study  the  Canticles,  the  account  of  the  creation  in  Genesis  (the  nb'j;a 
n'E^KIJ)  or  the  1st  chap,  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel  (the  n3jnD  n^i'O)  before  the  thirtieth  year  of 
his  hfe.  And  Ibn  Ezra  declares  that  it  was  an  undoubted  and  undisputed  fact  that  nothing 
in  the  Canticles  was  spoken  literally,  but  all  figuratively.! 

Great  numbers  of  both  Jewish  and  Christian  interpreters  have  since  treated  the  Song  of 
Solomon  in  this  one-sided  allegorical  metho  I,  which  fritters  away  the  historical  sense  altogether, 
and  sets  it  aside  as  offensive.  Of  the  foruier,  the  most  ancient  whose  work  has  come  down  to 
us  is  the  author  of  the  Targum,  which  is  at  all  events  post  Talmudio.  The  model  thus  giveu 
was  followed  by  most  of  the  Kabbins  of  the  middle  ages,  particularly  Rashi,  Kimchi,  and 
Ibn  Ezra,  of  Toledo,  in  the  twelfth  century,  who  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  who  sees  in 
the  book  an  allegorical  and  prophetical  representation  of  the  history  of  Israel  from  the  time  of 
Abraham  (whilst  the  other  rabbinical  interpreters  almost  universally,  like  the  Takgumist, 
make  the  action  begin  with  the  exodus  from  Egypt  under  Moses) ;  likewise  Moses  Maimonides 
(+1204),  who  in  his  More  Nebochiin,  explains  some  passages  at  least  of  the  poem,  and  tins  in 
such  a  way  that  "its  historical  contents  vanish  entirely,  and  the  mystical  significatio.i  of  its 
poetical  and  figurative  expressions  is  alone  of  any  worth."  In  the  Church  Oriqen  brought 
the  mystical  and  allegorical  mode  of  treatment  into  vogue,  and  by  far  the  greatest  number  of 
the  fathers  and  the  theologians  of  the  middle  ages,  and  even  of  more  recent  times,  have  followed 
lam,  with  however  the  subordinate  variations  that  to  the  mystico-spiritual  view  represented  by 
him,  by  Jerome,  Macarids,  Theodoret,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  etc.,  there  have  also  been 
added  in  the  course  of  lime  a  mystico-doctiinal  (Cyprian,  Athanasitis,  Joachim  Lange. 
Kambach,  Starke,  etc.),  a  mystico-political  or  historical  (Augustin,  Luther),  a  mystico- 
pi-ophetical  (Cocceius,  Gulich,  Heunisoh,  Reinhaedt,  etc.),  a  mystico-Mariological  (Ambrose, 
KirpERT  V.  Deutz,  Dionysids  Carthdsianus,  Mich.  Ghislerius,  Salmeron,  Cornelids  a 

*  [Thrupp  remarks  on  the  contrary  :  "  It  is  indeed  there  never  directly  quoted  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  passagefi  in 
which  itB  language  and  its  imagery  are  in  various  ways  emboiliej,  are  numerous  ;  the  use  thus  mjide  of  it  is  uniformly  anegor- 
icai ;  the  cumulative  cogency  of  these  repeated  dependences  upon  it  in  favor  of  the  allegorical  interpretation  becomes  very 
great;  and  througiiout  the  New  Testament  no  hint  is  to  be  found  that  it  bore  or  could  bear  any  other  than  an  allegorical 
meaning."  The  passages,  which  he  cites  in  proof  of  this  cnncjusion  in  his  commentary  pp.  ,'>3-ij.'>,  are  not  all  equally  convinc- 
ing; some  are  wholly  fanciful.  But  enough  remain  to  siiti^fyati  unprejudiced  mind  that  the  inspired  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  and  our  Lord  Himself  found  a  deeper  nwiuiint;  in  tliia  Song  than  appears  upon  its  surface. — Tb.] 

t  See  the  passage  in  J.  D.  Mich\eli8"  Preface  :  "  Al)sit  omni  niodo  ut  qui  Isrjielita  negaret,  quod  canticum  canticorum 
nou  polluat  manus  sive  non  sit  sacrum  ;  quia  totus  mundus  tanti  non  est  ac  ille  dies  quo  canticum  canticorum  Israeli  est 
datum.  Omnia  •nim  Hagiographa  sacra  sunt,  sed  canticum  canticorum  est  s.acr.atissimum.  Etsi  qua  de  Salomonis  scriptiB 
dissensio  fuit  (viz.,  whether  they  belong  in  the  canon — comp.  Aboth  de  Rabbi  Nathan,  c.  1  in  Delitzsch,  Hohel ,  p.  48),  ea 
tantum  de  Ecclesiaste  fuit." 

X  Prasf.,  in  Cant.  Cantic. ;  "  Absit,  absit,  ut  canticum  canticorum  de  voluptate  camali  agat;  omnia  potins  figurate  in  eo 
dicuntur.  Nisi  enim  maxima  ejus  dignitas,  inter  libros  Scripturae  sacrffi  relatnm  non  esset ;  nequo  ulla  de  so  osteon* 
1 1  overs ia." 


H  5.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  27 


Lapide,  etc.),  and  even  a  mystico-hieroglypbical  (Pupendorf  and  Eunge,  1776).  They  are 
ail  agreed,  however,  that  the  whole  poem  was  conceived  by  the  author  with  a  conscious  alle- 
gorical design.  The  most  recent  allegorical  expositors  also  occupy  substantially  the  same 
ground,  now  inclining  to  one  and  now  to  another  of  these  modifications ;  as  Rosenmueller 
Hog  and  Kaiser  have  sought  each  in  his  own  way  to  reproduce  the  mystico-historical  oi 
poUtical  method  of  explanation  of  former  times  ;  GoLTZ,  the  mystico  prophetical ;  H.  A.  Hahn. 
Keil,  0.  v.  Geelaoh,  Henqstenbeeg,  the  mystico-doctrinal ;  Gcsi.  Jahn  and  others,  the 
mystico-spiritual  mode  of  explanation. 

SPECIAL   BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

I.    JEWISH    ALLEGORICAL    EXPOSITIONS. 

Targdm  in  Cant.  Oanlicorum  (contained  in  the  Targum  to  the  five  Megilloth,  viz.,  Song  of 
Solomon,  E,uth,  Lamentations,  Esther,  Ecolesiastes),  best  printed  in  the  Paris  and  London 
polyglots.  It  betrays,  by  its  references  to  the  Talmod,  and  even  to  the  Mohammedans,  that 
it  was  not  composed  until  the  eighth  century  probably,  which,  however,  does  not  exclude  a 
higher  antiquity  for  many  of  its  remarks  and  stories  strung  together  in  the  style  of  the 
Haggada.  It  forms  a  continuous  "picture  of  Israel's  history  from  the  exodus  out  of  Egypt 
through  the  oppressions  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  until  his  final  redemption."  "Draw  me 
after  thee  "  (i.  4),  is  explained  of  the  march  of  the  people  under  the  conduct  of  Jehovah  to 
Sinai ;  "  Look  not  at  me,  because  I  am  black  "  (i.  6)  of  the  penitent  confession  of  sin  by  those 
who  had  forsaken  Jehovah  for  the  golden  calf;  "Tell  me,  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth,  where 
thou  feedest,"  etc.  (i.  7),  of  Moses'  supplication  for  the  transgressing  people;  the  festive  pro- 
cession described  in  iii.  6-11  of  the  taking  of  the  promised  land  by  Joshua,  and  the  building  of 
Solomon's  temple ;  the  words  (vii.  1,3)  "  let  us  go  to  the  vineyards,"  etc.,  of  Israel  praying  for 
deliverance  from  the  Babylonish  exile;  the  "odorous  mandrakes"  (vii.  14)  of  the  period  of 
deliverance  already  come;  and  finally,  the  concluding  verse  (viii.  14)  is  explained  as  a  petition 
to  the  Lord,  that  He  would  speedily  bring  back  the  scattered  people  to  the  "  spice  mountains," 
t.  e.,  to  the  temple  mountain  in  Jerusalem,  with  its  fragrant  offerings  of  incense — all  this  is 
interwoven  with  gross  anachronisms,  strange  leaps  of  thought,  and  extravagant  fancies  of  everv 
description ;  comp.  ZuNZ.  Gollesdienstliche  Vortrdge  der  Juden,  etc.,  p.  65  f. ;  Delitzscu, 
Hohel.,  p.  49;  Umbreit,  he.  cit.,  p.  208  f  [See  the  English  translation  of  this  Targum  ui 
Gill  on  Canticles,  1728,  and  in  Adam  Clarke's  Commentary.] 

Rashi  (t-  e,  R.  Solomon  ben  Isaac,  f  1105),  Cimimentai-ius  in  libros  historicos  et  Saloinonis 
V.  T.,  in  Lat.  vertit  J.  Fr.  Breithadpt,  1714  (on  the  rabbinical  editions  of  this  Commentator, 
who  is  particularly  valuable  on  account  of  his  copious  communications  from  older  Jewish 
allegorical  interpreters,  comp.  de  Rossi,  Histor.  Wbrlerbuch  der  Judischen  Scltriflsteller,  from 
the  Italian,  by  H.^mberger,  18-39;  also  J.  Chr.  Wolf,  Biblioiheca  Hebrcsa,  1715-33,  4   vols.) 

DiviD  Ki.MCHi  (son  of  Josei-u  Kimchi,  born  at  Narbonne,  1190,  died  after  1250),  Commen- 
tariusin  Canlic.  Canticor.  (in  the  rabbinical  Bibles  of  Bomberg  and  Buxtorf;  inclining  to  the 
literal  interpretation  of  Scripture,  yet  setting  the  greatest  store  also  by  the  older  allegorizing 
tradition,  especially  in  the  exegesis  of  Messianic  passages;  comp.  M.  Heidenheim  in  Herzog's 
Real-Encyklop.  XIX.  693). 

Ibn  Ezra  (tll67)  Commentar.  in  Qant.  Cant.,  also  in  Bomberg's  and  Buxtorf 's  Bibles; 
differs  from  the  Targum  and  most  of  the  other  rabbins  in  finding  the  history  of  Israel  from  the 
time  of  Abraham  allegoncally  and  prophetically  represented  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  hence 
it  is  not  until  chap.  li.  that  he  comes  down  to  the  times  of  Moses  and  the  giving  of  the  law;  he 
sees,  for  example,  in  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom,  "  who  comes  leaping  over  mountains  and 
hills,"  ii.  8,  the  thunder  of  Jehovah,  by  which  Sinai  was  .shaken  (comp.  Ps.  xxix.),  refers  the 
"  peeping  of  the  bridegroom  through  the  window  "  (ii.  9),  to  God's  looking  down  upon  His  people 
oppressed  in  Egvpt  for  their  help,  etc.,  etc, 

Moses  Maimonides  (f  1204)  Moreh  Nebochim  sen  Doctor  perplexorum,  ed.  Jo.  Buxtorf, 
1629,  comp.  the  Arabic  and  French  edition  "  le  Guide  des  Egares,"  by  S.  MuNK,  Par.  1856-61, 
2  vols.,  explains  in  the  first  part  of  this  work  in  addition  to  many  other  passages  of  the  Old 
Test.,  which  represent  the  divine  under  sensible  images,  various  sentences  from  the  Song  of 


28  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

Solomon,  and  in  so  doing  returns  to  the  extremely  arbitrary  and  desultory  method  of  the  oldei 
Midrash  which  "at  every  verse  or  clause  of  a  verse  pours  out  a  perfect  cornucopia  of  the  most 
heterogeneous  thoughts  and  fancies,"  without  aiming  at  any  continuous  hi8torico-allegorica\ 
explanation  of  the  whole.  A  characteristic  specimen  is  afforded  by  the  remark  upon  the  open- 
ing words  i.  2,  where  the  "  kiss  of  his  mouth  "  is  taken  to  be  a  mystical  designation  of  the 
union  of  the  Creator  with  the  creature  [apjyrehensio  Oi'ealoris  cum  summo  amore  Dei  conju7icta 
s.  NeMkah),  and  the  well-known  phrase  of  the  rabbins  that  Moses,  Aaron  and  Miriam  died 
"  in  the  kiss  of  God  "  is  traced  back  to  this  as  its  origin.  Comp.  Boxtoef's  JSdit.  p.  523,  and 
generally  Jost,  Art.  "  Maimonides  "  iu  Heezog's  Encycl.  VIII.  691  ff. 

Moses  ben  Tibbon,  Immanuel  ben  Salomo  the  Roman,  and  other  rabbinical  adherents  of 
the  cabalistic  and  philosophical  exegesis  of  the  Jews  of  the  middle  ages  differ  from  the  common 
historico-allegorical  interpretatiim  in  that  Solomon  is  to  them  a  symbol  of  the  highest  spiritual 
will  (the  intellectus  agens),  Shulamith  a  symbol  of  the  lower,  merely  sensuous  and  receptive 
understandmg  (the  intellectus  niaterialis) ,  and  the  whole  is  a  representation  of  the  union  of  both 
effecting  the  purification  of  the  latter.  On  the  contrary  the  religious  poetry  of  the  Jews  of 
Spain  in  the  Pijut,  in  so  far  as  it  is  baaed  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  rests  on  that  more  widely 
diffused  allegorical  view,  which  sees  in  Shulamith  the  "  congregation  of  Israel  "  (7N1B''  nDJ3). 
Comp.  Sachs,  Relig.  Poesie  der  Juden  in  Spanien,  p.  267 ;  Delitzsch,  Hohel.  p.  50.* 

II.    CHRISTIAN    ALLEGOEISIS. 

a.  The  mystico-spiritual  interpretation.  (Regarding  the  whole  as  a  figurative  representa- 
tion of  the  intercourse  of  Christ  with  the  believing  soul). 

Origen  m  Cant.  Canticorum  Ifomilia;  duo  translated  into  Lat.  by  Jerome  (see  his  0pp.  ed. 
Vallars.  Vol.  III.,  p.  500  ff.)  is  the  founder  of  that  method  of  interpretation  which  sees  in  the 
bride  of  the  Canticles  the  soul  pining  for  union  with  God,  and  in  the  bridegroom  the  divine  love 
which  sanctifies,  purifies  and  elevates  it  to  itself;  he  accordingly  e.xplains  the  whole  in  a  moral- 
soteriological  or  myatico-psychological  manner.  Comp.  what  Jerome  says  in  his  tr.inslation  : 
"  Canticum  canticorum  amorem  ccelestium  dii>inoru?nque  desiderium  incutit  animoB  sub  specie 
sponscB  et  sponsi,  cariiatis  et  amoris  oiis  pervenienduin  docens  ad  consortium  Dei." — In  his  more 
extended  commentary  in  XII.  roiioi,  of  which  only  four  books  are  still  extant  in  the  Latin 
translation  of  RnriN  (see  Origenis  0pp.  ed.  Lommatzsch,  Vol,  14, 15)  he  had  explained  the 
bride  of  the  Canticles  by  turns  of  the  individual  souls  of  Christians  striving  after  union  with 
Christ,  and  of  the  Church  as  the  collective  body  of  believers,  thus  combining  the  mystico-doc- 
trinal  with  the  mystico-spiritual  interpretation;  and  yet  through  Jerome,  who  translated  the 
former  work  only  into  Latin,  and  not  the  latter  also,  the  mystico-spiritual  interpretation  was 
rendered  almost  exclusively  influential  as  a  model  for  later  interpreters,  particularly  in  the  West.** 

Edsebids  of  Caesarea,  Oimment.  in  Cant.  Ca?ilicor.  (lost  except  a  few  questions). 

Macarius  the  elder  or  the  Egyptian  (f  about  390)  Opera  ed.  Peitids,  Lips.  1699  (explains 
the  Song  of  Solomon  likewise  of  the  loving  intercourse  of  the  soul  with  God). 

[Gregory  of  Nyssa,  In  Canlica  Canticorum  Explanatio :  fifteen  homilies  continuing  the  ex- 
position to  the  middle  of  the  sixth  chapter.  "  Of  the  two  alternative  interpretations  of  Ori- 
gen, that  which  identified  the  bride  with  the  human  soul  is  peculiar,  as  an  exclusive  interpreta- 
tion, to  the  homilies  of  Gregory  of  Nyssa."— Thrupp.] 

Theodoretus,  Interjrreiatio  in  Cantic.  Canticorum,  0pp.  Vol.  II.  ed.  Schultze,  Hal.  1770. 
["  Of  all  the  patristic  comments  on  the  Song  those  of  Theodoret  are  the  most  valuable.  They 
are  executed  with  judgment,  and  with  a  careful  but  discriminating  regard  to  the  labors  of 
earlier  writers;  are  sufficiently  full  without  being  prolix;  and  have  come  down  to  ua  com- 
plete.    In  them  Christ  is  the    Bridegroom ;  the  Bride  is  the  Church,  more   especially  as  the 

•  On  the  biWiography  of  tho  Jewish  expositions  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  general  comp.  Kleokee,  Sammlurtg  drr 
Grdidile  Sulnnui's,  etc.,  pp.  .i8-07,  [also  GlxSBCni:,  T/if  Srmg  of  Smgs,  pp.  ■24-00]. 

«*  The  well.Iinciwri  comparison  of  tlie  contents  of  the  three  Looks  of  Solo.i  on.rlz.,  Proverhs,  Ecdesiastes  and  Canticles, 
to  the  philosophical  triicili9iiti*u(Ti«^  uii  1  AovL«^(..r  eeupi«^),  which  Origen  first  suggested  andJKUOME  adoiited  from  him, 
ulso  rests  upon  a  mystico-spiritual  sense  of  the  Canticles.    Comp.  the  Introduction  to  tho  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  p.  I. 


§  5.  HISTOKY  OF  THE  INTERPKETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  29 

company  of  those  who  have  been  perfected  in  all  virtues ;  those  who   have  not   yet  reached 
the  full  degree  of  perfection  being  represented  as  the  Bride's  companions." — Thrdpp.] 

M.\xiMUS  Confessor,  Paraphrasis  in  Cant.  Canticorum  (in  the  Greek  Catena  to  the  O.  Test 
in  FroNTO  Ddcaeus,  Auclar.  Bibl.  Patr.  II.  681  ff.  and  in  the  Bibl.  Patr.  ed.  Morell,  Vol 
XIII. ;  somp.  also  the  Catena  in  Chnt.  Cantic.  by  MEURSins,  Lugd.  Balav.  1617  t)- 

WiLLiRAM  (Abbot  at  Ebersberg  in  Bavaria  f  1085)  Paraphrasis  in  Cant.  Canticorum,  ed. 
Merula,  Lugd.  Bat.  1598,  and  H.  Hofpmakn,  Bresl.  1827,  gave  a  twofold  paraphrase  of  the 
Song  of  Solomon,  in  which  he  followed  the  customary  .allegorical  method,  one  in  Lat.  hexameters, 
the  other  in  old  high  German  prose,  in  both  regarding  the  whole  as  a  colloquy  between  Christ 
and  the  believing  soul.  The  old  high  German  treatise  like  Notkee's  somewhat  older  para- 
phrase of  the  Psalms  is  of  great  interest  in  the  history  of  language.  Comp.  Hoffmakn  in  the 
German  Edition  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  W.  Scherer,  L^ben  WiUirams,  etc.,  Vienna, 
1866. 

HoNORius  of  Autun,  Exposi'io  in  Cantica  Canticorum  Salomonis,  in  Bibl.  Patrum  Lugdun. 
Vol.  XX.  (the  Proefalio  especially  important  on  account  of  its  laying  down  the  theory  of  the 
fourfold  sense  of  Scripture,  which  the  exposition  of  particular  passages  then  seeks  to  point  out 
everywhere,  according  especial  prominence  to  the  sensus  moralis). 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  Sermones  86  Super  Cant.  Chnticorum,  0pp.  Vol.  II.  ed.  Venet.  (a 
diffuse  mystico-practical  exposition,  which,  however,  only  treats  the  first  two  chapters  and  the 
opening  words  of  the  third,  and  explains  the  whole  of  the  soul  seeking  her  heavenly  bridegroom 
and  introduced  by  Him  first  into  the  garden,  then  into  the  banquet  hall,  and  finally  into  the 
sleeping  chamber,  sometimes,  moreover,  weaving  in  a  doctrinal  interpretation  as  on  i.  2,  where 
kissing  with  the  kiss  of  His  mouth  is  explained  of  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  this  "  condescend- 
ing miracle  of  a  kiss,  in  which  not  mouth  is  pressed  to  mouth  but  God  is  united  with  man," 
etc.*  The  continuation  of  this  gigantic  work  attempted  by  Bernard's  pupil,  Gilbert  v.  Hot- 
LAND,  only  carries  it  on  to  v.  10  in  58  discourses).  Comp.  also  Fernbacher:  die  lieden  des 
heil.  BER'snAUS  iiberdas  Hohehed,  detUsch  bearbdtet  ['The  Discourses  of  St.  Bernard  on 
the  Canticles,"  rendered  into  German],  Leipz.  1866. 

PacHARD  A.  S.  ViCTORE,  Thomas  Aqdinas,  Bosaventura,  Geeshon  and  others  represent 
in  their  Expositiones  in  Cayitic.  Canticorum  the  same  mystico-psychological  explanation,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  Song  of  Solomon  forms  a  compendium  of  the  science  of  inward  Christian 
experience,  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  ideas  and  fancies  as  profound  as  they  are  arbitrary. 
[•'  AftDiNAS  IS  said  to  have  dictated  his  commentary  on  his  death-bed."] 

Teresa  de  Jesus,  Conceptosdel amor  de  Bios  sobra  algunas palabras de las  cantares de  Salommt 
{"  Thoughts  on  the  love  of  God  suggested  by  some  verses  in  Canticles)'' — explains  particularly 
the  passages  i.  2;  ii.  3  ;  ii.  4;  ii.  5,  etc.,  of  the  marriage  of  the  enraptured  soul  with  the  holy 
Trinity,  or  of  the  fourth  and  highest  stage  of  her  peculiar  mystical  theory  of  prayer  ;  comp.  my 
essay  "  Teresia  v.  Avila,"  etc.,  in  the  Zeitschr.f.  Lnth.  Theol.  1865,  I.  and  II. 

Juan  de  la  Cruz  (John  of  the  cross),  Cantico  espiritual  enire  el  alma  e  C'hristo  su  esposo 
("spiritual  song  between  the  soul  and  Christ  its  bridegroom" — a  free  poetic  imitation  of  some 
of  the  principal  passages  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  especially  from  chap,  lii.-vi. ;  comp.  the  essay 
already  referred  to  in  the  Zeitschr.  f.  Luth.  Theol.  1866,  I ,  particularly  p.  59  ff.). 

[The  commentary  of  the  Spanish  Jesuit,  Gaspae  Sanciius  (or  Sanchez),  published  in  1616, 
forms  a  quarto  volume  of  nearly  400  pages,  which  is  highly  commended  by  Moody  Stuart  for 
its  learning  and  research  and  the  spirituality  of  its  views.] 

Delrio,  Deloado,  Sotomator,  Pineda,  Oroczo.  These  and  other  Spanish  mystics  adopt 
the  same  allegorical  method  in  their  commentaries  with  those  before  named,  explaining  the 
"  cheeks  of  the  bride,"  iv.  3,  of  outward  Christianity  in  good  works ;  her  slender  neck,  vii.  5, 
of  the  constancy  of  the  love  of  Christ;  her  golden  chains,  i.  10,  of  faith;  the  silver  points  on 
the  ornaments  of  gold,  i.   11,  of  the  holiness  of  the  walk ;  the  spikenard,  i.  12,  of  redeemed 

*  His  representatiun  of  the  iadiridual  soul  of  the  ChrNtian  as  in  some  sort  the  bride  of  Christ  is  jiistiflod  by  Berkari 
by  a  reference  to  the  fact  that  individuals  ns  nenibers  of  the  Church,  which  is  the  proper  bride  of  the  Lord,  evidently 
have  part  in  this  common  title  of  lioaor  and  in  the  blessiiics  therewith  connected.  "  Qund  enim  sirnul  omnes  plcne  intS' 
greque  possidemus,  lioc  smguli  sinr.  contradictime participamm."    (Serni.  XII.). 


30  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


humanity ;  the  bunch  of  myrrh,  i.  13,  of  the  passion  of  Christ ;  the  "  thorns  about  the  rose," 
ii.  2,  of  temptations  by  tribulations,  by  all  sorts  of  crimes  or  by  heretics ;  the  "  chariots  of  Am- 
minadab  "  of  the  devil,  etc.  Corap.  C.  A.  VVilkens,  Fray  Luis  de  Leon  :  eine  Biographie  am 
der  Geschichle  der  Spanischen  Inquisition  und  Kirehe  (E.a\\e.,  1866),  p.  206  ff. 

John  Mich.  Dillherr,  Go/Uiche  Liebesflamme  oder  Betrachlung  miterschiedlicher  Slellen 
des  Hohenlied'!  [Divine  flame  of  love  or  a  Consideration  of  divers  passages  in  the  Canticles], 
Nuremberg,  1640 ;  also,  Atinotationes  in  Oanlicum,  Wratislaw,  1680. 

J.  Marie  Bouhrieres  de  la  Mothe  Guyon.  Le  Cantique  des  Oantiques,  interprele  selon  h 
sens  mystique;  Grenoble,  1685.  In  this  conamentary,  composed,  according  to  her  own  confes- 
sion, in  one  day  and  a  half,  but  which  was  nevertheless  commended  by  Bossuet  above  her 
other  writings,  she  closely  resembles  the  preceding  adherents  of  the  mystico-spiritual  interpre- 
tation, and  seems  particularly  to  have  drawn  from  Theresa  and  St.  Bernard. 

[J.  Hamon  (t  1687),  Explication  du  Cantique  des  Canliques.  "  Physician  of  Port  Royal  and 
continuator  of  the  expositions  of  Bernard."] 

Joachim  Lange,  Ramb.^ch,  Starke  and  others  in  the  last  century  seek  to  connect  as  f:ir  as 
possible  the  mystico-doctrinal  view  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  with  the  mystico-spiritual ;  comp. 
the  following  rubric,  p.  31. 

The  Berlebtjko  Bible  (Berleb.  1726  ff.)  pays  less  regard  to  the  doctrinal  view  of  the  Song 
of  Solomon  or  tbe  explanation  of  the  bride  as  the  Church,  than  to  the  spiritual,  according  to 
which  the  conditions  and  stages  of  progress  in  the  individual  Christian  life  are  repre.sented  in  it. 

Gdstav  Jahn,  Das  Hohehed  in  Liedern  [Solomon's  Song  in  Songs],  Halle,  1848,  divides  the 
whole  into  62  longer  or  shorter  sonnets  in  which  is  sung  1)  the  work  of  faith;  2)  the  labor  of 
love;  3)  confirmation  in  grace  ;  and  4)  the  yea  and  amen  of  the  bride. 

b.  The  Mystico  doctrinal  Interpretation.  (Understanding  the  whole  as  a  description  of  the 
relation  between  Christ  and  His  Church). 

Athanasius,  Exposilio  in  Caiit.  Canticorum  (now  lost,  but  still  known  to  Photius  Cod. 
139;  preferred  the  explanation  of  the  bride  as  the  Church  above  that  of  making  her  to 
be  the  individual  soul;  so  also  the  pseudo-Athanasian  Si/nopsis  div.  Scriplurm,  1.  XVI).* 

Epiph.anius,  Commentarius  super  Cant.  Salomonis  ed.  P.  F.  Foggini,  Rom.  1750  (of  doubt- 
ful authenticity,  especially  because  the  eighty  concubines  of  Solomon,  vi.  8,  are  here  explained 
of  dumb,  i.  e.  non-prophesying  spirits  of  the  prophets,  whilst  Epiphanius  in  his  Panarion 
(1.  III.  p.  2)  finds  in  those  concubines  the  eighty  heresies  of  Christendom  prefigured.  It  is  at 
all  events  very  ancient,  e.  g.  already  attested  by  Cassiodorus  de  Inst,  divin.  liter,  c.  5,  and  i,« 
extremely  rich  in  whimsical  interpretations,  as  e.  g.,  that  the  winter,  ii.  11,  denotes  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ ;  the  voice  of  the  turtle-dove.  ii.  12,  the  preaching  of  Paul,  the  former  persecutor 
of  the  Christians,  etc.  Some  would  regard  it  as  a  work  of  Bishop  Philo  of  Carpasus ;  see  e.  g. 
M.  a.  Giacomelli  [PhUonis  episc.  Carpasii,  enarralio  in  Cant.  Canticorum,  RomcF,  1772).  [It 
is  evidently  a  breviary,  or  short  expository  compendium,  mainly  derived  by  the  author  from  the 
writings  of  others  ;  occasionally,  as  on  iii.  6-8,  containing  a  double  exposition  of  the  same  pas- 
sage.    In  it  Christ  is  the  Bridegroom,  the  Church  the  Bride." — Thrupp.] 

Cyril  ot  Jerusalem,  Calechesis  XIV.,  0pp.  ed.  Touttee,  Par.,  1720  (explains  (he  litter, 
iii.  9,  of  the  cross  of  Christ;  the  silver  of  its  feet  of  His  betrayer's  thirty  pieces  of  silver;  the 
purple  of  its  cushion  of  the  purple  robe  of  the  suffering  Redeemer ;  Solomon's  wedding  crown 
of  Christ's  crown  of  thorns,  etc.). 

["  Of  the  same  spiritual  kind  was  the  general  interpretation  of  the  Christian  Fathers  ;  of 
Basil,  of  Gregory  of  Nazian/.us,  of  even  (as  we  learn  from  his  scholar  Theodoret)  the  literal 
ihterpreter  Diodore  of  Tar.'^ns,  of  Chry.?ostom,''  etc.,  etc. — Thrupp.] 

[Polyoiironius  Diaconus,  Enarralio  in   Canticum   Canticorum. 

Cassiodorus,  E.rpo.tit'0  in  Cant.  Cant.  'I'hough  passing  under  the  name  of  Cassiodorus,  its 
authorship  is  doubtful  and  it  may  belong  to  a  later  date. 

♦  In  like  manner  Cyprian,  who  particularly  refers  the  passage  Cant.  vi.  9  of  preference  to  the  Church  as  fbe  one  dove, 
I.  «.  the  one  chosen,  beloved  of  Christ,  e.  g.  Ep.  G9  ad  Magnum,  c.2\  de.  unit.  Ecctesia;,  c.  4. 


i  o.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  81 

Justus  ORGEiiiTAUUs  (Bishop  of  Urgel  in  Catalonia,  Spain,  cir.  A.D.  529),  In  Cant.  Cani. 
txplicatio  mystica. 

IsiDORDS  HiBPALENSis,  Eiposilloin  Cantka  Canticorum.  For  the  titles  of  various  commenta- 
ries of  little  note,  belonging  to  the  middle  ages,  see  Dabling's  Ot/clopcedia  Bibliographicn 
(Holy  Scriptures),  pp.  578  ff.— Tr] 

["Genebrand,  Bishop  of  Aix  (f  1597),  a  learned  Benedictine,  wrote  two  comments,  a  largf-r 
and  smaller,  both  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  his  work  is  distinguished  by 
collections  from  the  Rabbins." — Williams.] 

HiERON.  OsORlus  (canon  at  Evora  in  Portugal  about  IGOOl  :  Paraphra.iis  et  Ojmmentaria  in 
Ecclesiasten  et  in  Canticum  Canticorum,  Lugdnni,  1611  ["  maluinn  Chrinti  el  Ecclesixr;  amorein 
Salomon  explicare  volens,  fcemincB  el  viri,  miUuo  se  amantium,  affrctinnes  ehgantissime  de- 
scripsii  "). 

John  Piscator,  Commentarius  in  Proverbia  Salomonis  itemque  Caniicum  Canticont/m,  Her- 
born.  1647. 

John  Gerh.^rd,  Predigten  uber  das  Hohelied  [Sermons  on  the  Song  of  Solomon]  in  his  Po.s- 
tilla  Salomonea,  Jena,  16(56,  adopts  the  allegorical  interpretation  prevalent  in  the  Church  ;  so 
also  A.  Calov  in  the  "  Blhlia  ilhistrata,"  as  well  as  L.  Osiander  in  his  Bibehverk,  Carpzov 
in  his  Inlroductio  inlibb.  V.  T.,  J.  H.  Michaelis  in  his  Anjiotail.  in  Hagiogr.  Vol.  II.,  Joach. 
Lange  in  the  Salomonische  Lichl  und  Recht,  Buddeus,  Wilisch  and  many  others. 

Starke,  (Synopsis,  Part  IV.  )  closely  follows  those  last  mentioned  in  seeing  in  the  Song  of 
Solomon  "a  treatise,  in  which  the  union  of  Christ  with  believers  is  set  forth  under  the  emblfiin 
of  the  most  tender  love  of  a  bridegroom  and  bride,"  or  in  some  sense  also  a  "  prophetical  book,"' 
in  which  (without  chronological  order)  is  represented  :  "  the  coming  of  Messiah  in  the  flesh,  the 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  gathering  of  the  N.  Test.  Church  from  Jews  and  Gentiles,  as 
well  as  the  special  trials  and  leadings  of  the  Church,"  etc.). 

Magn.  Fr.  Rods,  "  Fussstapfcn  des  Glaitbens  Abrahams  "  [Footsteps  of  the  faith  of  Abra- 
ham], St.  5,  1773  (the  bridegroom  is  Christ,  the  bride  the  Church,  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  queens,  concubines  and  virgins  mentioned  in  vi.  8  represent  the  various  clas.ses  of  be- 
lievers ;  the  whole  describes  the  loving  intercourse  of  Christ  with  His  people  in  this  world,  etc.: 
comp.  further  particulars  in  Delitzsch,  Hohel.  pp.  58-61). 

0.  V.  Gerlach,  das  Alle  Test.,  etc.,  Vol.  III.,  1849.  The  whole  "portrays  the  various 
advances  and  estrangements  conducting  ever  to  a  more  perfect  union  in  the  love  of  Jehovah  or 
Christ  and  His  Church,  yet  not  in  the  form  of  a  regularly  unfolding  history  but  jn  certain  signi- 
ficant transactions,  which  though  related  to  each  other  are  without  any  close  connection."  In 
the  explanation  of  the  details  much  uncertainty  and  capricious  vacillation. 

K.  F.  Keil,  Lehrhur.h  der  hislorisch-kritischcn  Einleitung  in's  A.  T.  [Historioo-critical  In- 
troduction to  the  0.  Test.],  1853,  finds  as  already  in  Haevernick's  Introduction,  Part  111., 
edited  by  him,  "  under  the  allegory  of  the  conjugal  love  of  Solomon  and  Shulamith  "  the  loving 
communion  between  the  Lord  and  His  Church,  depicted  according  to  its  ideal  nature,  which 
results  from  the  selection  of  Israel  to  be  the  people  of  the  Lord. 

Henostenbbro,  das  Hohelied  Sa'omonis  ausgelegt,  [the  Song  of  Solomon  Expounded],  Berl., 
1853,  makes  the  only  correct  ''  spiritual  interpretation  "  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  to  lie  in  this 
that  the  "  heavenly  Solomon  "  must  be  distinguished  from  Solomon,  the  earthly  author  of  the 
Song,  as  the  object  of  its  descriptions  :  and  the  beloved  of  this  heavenly  Solomon  must  be  con- 
fessed to  be  the  "daughter  of  Zion."  and  the  whole,  therefore,  like  the  45th  Psalm,  which  i.s  a 
sort  of  "  conipenduim  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,"  must  be  allegorically  explained  of  the  Messiah 
and  His  Church  in  the  Old  and  the  New  Test.  In  the  details  there  is  much  that  is  trifling  and 
arbitrary  ;  e.  g.  the  hair  of  Shulamith  compared  with  a  flock  of  goats,  iv.  1,  signifies  the  mass 
of  the  nations  convened  to  the  Church  of  the  Lord:  the  navel  of  Shulamith,  vii.  3,  denotes 
'•the  cup  from  which  the  Church  refreshes  the  thirsty  [i.  e.  those  longing  for  salvation)  with  a 
noble  and  refreshing  draught ;"  the  sixty  and  eighty  wives  of  Solomon  point  to  the  admission 
of  "  the  original  gentile  nations  into  the  Church,"  because  140  or  seven  multiplied  by  two  and 
by  ten  forms  the  '■  signature  of  the  Covenant,"  and  because  in  the  formation  of  his  household  from 


32  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

women  of  tlie  most  diverse  nations  Solomon's  purpose  was  directed  "  to  a  symbolic  prefigura- 
tion  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,"  p.  169,  and  so  on. 

H.  A.  Haiin,  das  Hohelied  von  Salomo,  uhersetzt  und  erkldrl  [The  Song  of  Solomon,  translated 
and  explained],  Bresl.,  1852,  explains  the  Song  of  Solomon  as  setting  forth  under  a  dramatic 
dress  and  in  the  course  of  six  acts,  the  fundamental  thought  that  "  the  kingdom  of  Israel  is 
called  to  vanquish  heathendom  finally  with  the  weapons  of  righteousness  and  love,  and  to  con- 
duct it  back  again  to  the  peaceful  rest  of  a  loving  communion  with  God."  According  to  this, 
therefore,  Shulamith  is  a  representative  of  heathendom,  and  particularly  of  Japhetic  heathen- 
dom ;  and  her  younger  sister,  viii.  9  ff.,  corresponds  to  Hamitic  heathendom,  which  is  at  last 
also  to  be  converted  too. 

6.  HoELEJiANN,  Die  Krone  des  Hohenlieds  [The  crown  of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  Leipz. 
1856,  approaches  most  nearly  to  the  view  of  Hengstenbero,  only  he  avoids  the  too  specific  ex- 
planation of  minute  details  and  declares  it  iuadmissible — comp.  below,  p.  43. 

c  The  Mystico-political  or  Mysticohistorical  Interpretation.  (This  differs  from  the  pre- 
ceding mainly  in  that  it  understands  by  the  bride  not  the  Church  but  the  theocracy  of  the  Old 
Test.,  and  consequently  approximates  more  to  the  Jewish  allegorical  explanation). 

AuousTiN,  de  Ctvit.  Dei,  1.  XVII.  e.  8, 13,  20  (ed.  Bened.  Tom.  VII.,  p.  71-1  ff.),  refers  the  re- 
lation of  the  two  lovers  to  the  theocracy  in  the  Old  Test,  and  its  fortunes. 

Luther,  Brcvis  enarratio  %n  Canlica  Canlicorum,  0pp.  ed.  Erlang.  Vol,  XXI.,  explains — 
herein  differing  from  many  other  expressions,  in  which  he  adopts  the  common  mystico-doctrinal 
interpretation — the  bride  to  be  the  Old  Test,  theocracy  in  Israel  at  the  time  of  its  greatest 
splendor,  and  makes  the  whole  a  eulogy  by  Solomon  of  this  his  kingdom.  "Eu  enim  encomium 
politim,  quae  temporibus  Sahmonis  in  pulcherrima  pace  floruit.  Quemadmodum  enim  in  S. 
Scriplura,  qui  scripserunt  Canlica,  de  rebus  a  se  gestis  ea  scripserunl*  sic  Salo?non  per 
hoc po'ema  nobis  suam  politiam  commended,  el  qiuxsi  encomium  pads  el  prcBsenlis  stalus  rei- 
publica;  insliluU  in  quo  gratias  Deo  agit  pro  summo  illo  beneficio,  pro  externa  pace,  in  alio- 
rtim  exeniplum,  ut  ipsi  quoque  sic  discant  Deo  gratias  agere,  ajnoscere  beneficia  summa,  et 
orare,  si  quid  minus  rede  in  impcrio  accideril,  ut  eorrigatur"  (p.  278).  "  Constituit  Deum 
sponsum  el  populum  suum  sponsam,  atque  ita  cartit,  quantopere  Deus  populum  ilium  diligat, 
quol  el  quantis  beneficiis  eum  afjicial,  el  eumulet,  denique  ea  benignilate  et  dementia  eundem 
complectalur  ac  foveal,  qua  nullus  unquam  sponsus  sponsam  suam  complexus  est  ae  fovit " 
(p.276).t 

[John  Brentius,  the  Suabian  reformer,  adopted  the  same  theory.  Ginsburo  quotes  from 
his  32d  homily  the  following  language  respecting  the  Song  of  Songs  :  "Car-men  encomiaslicum, 
quod  de  laude  regni  et  polilice  sum  Solomon  emiscripsil."] 

Leon.  Hcg,  "  Das  Hohelied  in  einer  noch  unversuchten  Deulung,"  [The  Song  of  Solomon 
in  a  hitherto  unatterapted  explanation],  1813,  and  "  Schutzschrifl  fiir  seine  DeMung  des  Hohen- 
liedes  und  desselben  tveitere  Ur'duterung"  [Deknoe of  his  explanation  of  the  Song  of  Solomon 
and  its  further  elucidation]  1815  sees  in  the  bride  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  in  the  bridegroom 
king  Hezekiah  of  Judah  designated  as  Solomon,  in  the  brothers  of  Shulamith,  viii.  8,  9,  a  party 
in  the  house  of  Judah,  in  the  whole  a  re-presentation  clothed  in  idyllic  form  of  the  longing  felt 
by  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  for  reunion  ^vith  Judah  but  which  those  "brothers  "  opposed. 
Comp.  m  opposition  to  this  allegorical  explanation  favored  only  by  Herbst  in  Welte's  IH71I. 
ins  A.  T.  [Introduction  to  the  Old  Test.],  Ewald,  p.  40. 

Kaiser,  "  Das  Hohelied,  ein  Colleclivgesang  auf  SeniMbel,  Esra  und  Nehem.ia,  als  die  Wie- 
derhersteller  einer  jtidischen  Verfassung  in  der  Frovinz  Juda  "  [Canticles,  a  collective  song  re- 
specting Zerubbabel,  Ezra  and  Xehemiah  as  the  restorers  of  a  Jewish  constitution  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Judah],  1825,  a  peculiar  politico-allegorical  explanation,   which   is  wrecked  by  the 

*  He  here  has  in  mind  Mnses  as  ttie  mithir  of  Kx.  tt.;  Dfbnrnh,  Jnclg.  v.:  Hnnnah,  1  Sa-n.  il..  'tc. 

t  By  ills  own  confession  Luther  li-anel  in  tliis  perilliar  explanation  upon  the  Emperor  MlsIMIUAN's  "  Tlicwrdank," 
as  well  M  on  lilie  "c^rmina  amatorU  principiim,  qua  vulgus  a^Jjiit  d'.  sponsa  aid  amicz  cantata  cum  tamm  politia  et 
popiiH  mi  statum  his  (IfpinfiTnt."  He  enzaites  in  zeaionn  polemics  against  the  nllegorical  explanation  common  in  the 
Cliurch.  '  *-  conjunctinw  Dei  fi  smagtijx  "  iin.i  says  at  the  rlose,  in  justification  of  his  attempt  at  a  new  explanation: 
**'piOd  si  erro,  veniam  merdur primus  labor.    Nam  aliorwn  cojitatioms  lonji  plus  absurdit  itis  habcnt.^ 


i  5.    HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  S3 

untenable  character  of  its  historical  basis  alone,  altogether  apart  from  the  artificial  and  arbitrary 
nature  of  much  beside  that  it  contains. 

RosENMUELLEB,  "  lAber  des  Hohenliedes  Sinn  und  Auslegung  [On  the  meaning  and  interpre- 
tation of  the  Song  of  Solomon]  in  Keil'.s  und  Tzschip.ner's  AnalekLen,  Part  I.,  Art.  3,  1830, 
seeks  to  establish  anew  the  old  Jewish  allegorical  explanation  of  the  Song  of  the  relation  of 
Jehovah  to  His  people,  with  reference  to  the  analogy  brought  forward  by  Jones:  "On  the 
mystical  poetry  of  the  Persians  and  Hindoos"  (in  the  Asiatic  Researches,  Vol.  III.)  with  the 
Gitagovinda  and  the  religious  poetry  of  the  Soofees — which  analogy,  however,  is  more  apparent 
than  real,  and  proves  nothing  for  the  far  older  Song  of  Solomon ;  (comp.  Ewald,  p.  38  ff. ;  De- 
LITZSCH,  p.  66  ff.). 

d.  The  viystico-prophstic  or  Chronological  Interpretation.  (Regarding  the  Song  of 
Solomon  as  a  prophecy  of  the  development  of  the  Church  in  its  several  periods,  as  a  sort  of 
Apocalypse,  therefore,  or  as  a  prophetic  compendium  of  the  history  of  the  Church  and  of 
heretics). 

ApoNius,  Exposilio  Cant.  lib.  VI.,  of  the  seventh  century;  takes  the  Song  of  Solomon  to  be  a 
continuous  picture  of  the  history  of  revelation  from  the  creation  to  the  final  judgment.  ["  A 
sentence  near  the  opening  of  his  commentary  has  apparently  induced  the  assertion  that  he  fol- 
lows the  Chaldee  in  viewing  the  Song  as  of  a  historico-prophetical  character.  An  inspection  of 
the  commentary  will  show  that  it  contains  no  trace  of  the  influence  of  the  Chaldee,  and  that  it 
is  not  more  historico-prophetical  than  the  commentaries  of  the  earlier  Christians.  Aponius 
nnds  in  viii.  1,  13  an  indication  of  the  ultimate  conversion  of  the  Jews  after  much  suffering ; 
but  the  germ  of  a  corresponding  interpretation  of  other  passages  may  be  traced  also  in  Cassio- 
DORUS." — Theupp.] 

NicoLArs  DE  Lyka,  Postilla  in  universa  Biblia  finds  represented  in  chaps.  i,-vi.  the  history 
of  Israel  from  Moses  to  Christ,  in  chap.  vii.  and  viii.  that  of  Christianity  to  the  time  of  Con- 

STANTINE. 

G.  Ederus,  Jacobus  de  Valentia,  etc.  (see  on  these  and  other  advocates  of  the  chrono- 
logical explanation  of  Cocceius,  Delitzsch,  p.  56  f.).  [The  Spanish  prelate,  James  Perez 
of  Valentia  (1507),  "instead  of  dividing  the  Song  into  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament  por- 
tions, viewed  it  as  setting  forth  throughout,  primarily  the  different  phases  of  Old  Testament 
history,  and  then  also  under  the  figure  of  these  and  simultaneously  with  them  the  mysteries  of 
redemption.  He  divides  the  Song  into  ten  separate  canticles,  commencing  respectively  i.  2 ; 
i.  12;  ii.  8  ;  iii.  6  ;  iv.  1;  iv.  16;  v  8;  vi.  1;  vii.  13.  "  Return,  return,  etc.;  viii.  5.  These 
severally  delineate  the  promises  to  the  patriarchs ;  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  ;  the  speak- 
ing of  God  from  the  tabernacle  ;  the  carrying  of  the  ark  through  the  wilderness  with  attendant 
miracles;  Moses' ascent  of  Pisgah ;  the  death  of  Moses;  the  entrance  into  Canaan;  the  con- 
quest and  partition  of  Canaan  ;  the  conflicts  and  victories  under  the  Judges  ;  and  the  prosperity 
and  peace  under  Solomon.  The  corresponding  events  typified  by  them  are  the  general  expeota- 
lions  of  the  Old  Testament  saints  ;  the  incarnation  of  Christ ;  His  teaching  ;  His  earthly  career 
and  miracles;  His  going  up  to  Jerusalem  ;  His  death;  the  gathering  into  the  Church  of  the 
first  Jewish  converts ;  the  mission  of  the  apostles  to  the  Gentiles ;  the  conflicts  and  victories  of 
;!ie  martyr  church  ;  and  the  prosperity  and  peace  under  Constantine."  "  Eder,  rector  of  the 
University  of  Vienna  (1582),  divided  the  Song  into  ten  dramas,  on  the  same  principle  apparently 
as  Perez." — Thrupp.] 

John  Cocceius,  Cogitaiiones  de  Caniico  Canlicorum  Salomonis,  Opp.  ed.  Amsterd.,  1673, 
II.  vols,  finds,  vi.  9,  the  contest  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines ;  vii.  5  (in  the  comparison 
of  the  bride  with  the  pools  at  Heshbon  the  weeping  Church  of  the  15th  century  as  the 
period  of  laborious  struggle  for  the  reformation  of  the  Church  by  the  great  reformatory 
councils ;  vii.  6  ff.  Luther  in  his  conflict  with  the  degenerate  courts  of  the  16th  century ; 
vii.  11  the   capture  of  the  elector  John  Frederick  at  Miihlberg,  etc.,  etc.) 

Groenewegen,  Gulich,  Reinhard  and  other  followers  of  Cocceius  attach  themselves  closely 
to  the  preceding  ;  so  also  partially  at  least 

John  Marck,  In  Cant.  Canlicorum  Salomonis  commenlar.,  Amstel.,  1703. 
32 


34  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

Casp.  Heunisch  (Luth.)  Oommenlarius  apocalyplicus  in  Cant.  Caniicorum,  1688,  finds,  as 
CoccEius  had  already  done,  seven  periods  of  the  church  represented  in  the  Song  of  Solomon, 
corresponding  with  the  seven  apocalyptic  epistles,  the  seventh  of  which  depicted  in  chap,  viii.,  is 
to  begin  in  the  year  A.  D.,  2060. 

G.  P.  G.  GoLTZ,  Bas  Hohelied  Salomonis,  eine  Weissagung  von  den  letzlen  Zeiien  der  Kircht 
Jesu  Oiristi :  [The  Song  of  Solomon,  a  prophecy  of  the  last  times  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ], 
Berl.,  1850,  regards  in  the  interest  of  Irvingite  speculations  the  Song  of  Solomon  as  a  propheti- 
cal book,  which  .sets  forth  the  final  fortunes  of  the  Church.  "  shortly  before,  during  and  after  the 
second  coming  of  Christ,"  and  accordingly  describes,  e.  g.,  in  oh.  iii.  the  restoration  of  the  original 
apostolic  constitution  of  the  Church,  etc. 

e.  The  Mystico-Mariological  Interpretation.  (Conceiving  Shulamith  to  be  identical  with 
Mary,  the  mother  of  God.) 

Ambrose,  Sermo  de  virginitate  perpelua  S.  Marice,  0pp.  ed.  Paris,  1642,  Vol.  IV,  explains 
in  addition  to  the  "  shut  gate  "  Ezek.  xliv.,  many  passages  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  likewise,  es- 
pecially that  of  the  "  locked  garden  "  and  the  "  sealed  fountain  "  iv.  12  of  the  perpetual  vir- 
ginity of  Mary. 

[Gregorius  Magnus,  Exposilio  super  Canlica  CarUicorum.  Moody  Stuart  says :  "  The  tv/o 
most  distinctive  features  in  his  exposition  are  a  great  expression  of  desire  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews  in  expounding  the  passage  '  I  brought  him  inlo  my  mother's  hou.9e,'  which  he  inter- 
prets of  ancient  Israel;  and  the  introduction  of  the  Virgin  Mary  into  the  song,  hut  it  is  only  to 
the  effect  that  '  the  crown  wherewith  his  mother  crowned  him'  was  the  humanity  which  Christ 
derived  from  Mary." 

Michael  Psellus,  Junior,  in  the  eleventh  century  "  wrote  a  metrical  paraphrase  and  a  prose 
commentary  on  the  Canticles''  in  Greek.  Moody  Stoart  says  of  it:  "The  Virgin  Mary  is 
brought  in  most  fully  and  zealously;  and  to  the  writer  nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  that  she 
is  'the  dove  and  the  only  one  '  in  contrast  to  the  surrounding  multitude  of  queens  and  prm- 
cesses." 

"  A  similar  view  is  taken  of  Cant.  vi.  8,  9  in  western  literature  by  the  Abbot  Locas,  the 
epitomizer  of  Aponius."     Thrupp.] 

Rupert  v.  Deutz,  in  Cant.  Caniicorum,  II.  VII.,  carries  out  this  suggestion  of  Ambrose  in  a 
continuous  exegesis  of  the  entire  book. 

DiONYSius  Carthusianus,  Gulielmus  Parvus,  Michael  Ghislerius,  Salmeron  refer  ac- 
cording to  the  hermeneutical  rule  of  the  threefold  sense,  all  that  is  said  of  the  spouse  in  the  Song 
of  Solomon:  1.  To  the  Church  ;  2    To  the  individual  believing  soul;  3.  To  the  holy  Virgin. 

Cornelius  a  Lapide,  Commentarii  in  V.  T.,  Venet.,  1730  £f.,  as  the  foregoing,  only  he  makes 
the  explanation  of  the  holy  Virgin  to  be  the  sensiis  principalis.*  [Ginsburg  remarks  that  "  be 
was  the  first  who  endeavored  to  show  that  this  song  is  a  drama  in  five  acts."  The  themes  of 
thtse  five  parts  are  stated  by  Thrupp  to  have  been  respectively  "  the  infancy  of  the  Christian 
church,  its  conflicts  with  the  heathen  power,  its  establishment  under  Constantino,  its  suffer- 
ings from  heresy,  and  its  renovation  under  the  later  Fathers."] 

/.  The  Mystlco-hieroglyphlc  Interpretation.  (Conceiving  the  figurative  language  of  Can- 
ticles to  have  been  the  offspring  of  some  esoteric  doctrine  or  Egyptian  hieroglyphical  wisdom 
of  Solomon.) 

V.  PuFENDORP  (Vice-president),  "  Umschreibung  d?s  Hohcnliedes,  oder  die  Gemmie  mil 
Christo  und  den  Engeln  ini  Chrabe"  [Paraphrase  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  or  communion  with 
Christ  and  the  angels  in  the  grave]  edited  by  RuNOE,  1776.  The  object  described  is  supposed 
to  be  the  participation  of  the  believers  of  the  Old  and  New  Test,  in  the  grave  and  death  of  the 
Saviour,  in  which  also  their  desire  for  His  appearing  is  likewise  represented,  and  the  future  ol 

•  The  ylew  of  Shulamith  as  the  hypostatical  wisdom  taken  by  Leo  IIebraeds  (de  amnre  dial.  c.  3),  by  J.  G.  Eosenmcellui 
(.^holia  in  V.  T.),  and  suggested  likewinn  by  Delitzsch  (HoliHirA,  p.  6.")  ff.),  is  akin  to  this  mariological  explanation  :  au<J 
witli  this  again,  that  of  the  Rabbis  Mossa  BEN  TiunoN,  Immanuel  ben  Solomon,  dc.  is  closely  related,  who  make  Simla 
mith  the  inUlUctus  materialis  (comp.  above,  p.  28.) 


g  6.    HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  35 


the  Church  until  the  general  resurrection  is  prophetically  prefigured.  The  "  virgins  "  (nio^^i 
i.  3 ;  vi.  8,  etc ,  are  the  ''  pure  and  chaste  souls  shut  up  ui  the  dark  grave  and  waiting  for  the 
hght,"  because  they  are  so  denominated  from  D7^  "  to  be  hidden,"  etc.,  etc. 

KisTEMAKER  (Cath.  clergyman)  Canlic.  CaiUtcorum  illuslratum  ex  hierographia  orientali, 
1818,  agreemg  in  method  with  the  precedmg,  but  in  results  with  the  common  interpretation  of 
the  synagogue  and  the  church,  according  to  which  the  bride  is  the  people  of  God. 

[••Cantica  Canticorum  chymice  explicata  is  the  title  of  a  book  in  the  library  of  the  British 
Museum,  but  the  book  itself  in  the  lapse  of  years  has  gone  astray  ;  and  we  can  form  no  con- 
jecture of  its  contents  except  from  the  words  of  Carpzovios,  that  the  Alchymists  dream  that 
under  the  shadow  of  his  words  Solomon  has  delineated  (in  the  Song)  the  whole  secret  concern- 
ing the  philosopher's  stone."     Moody  Stuart.] 

I  6.    CoNTINnATION. 

b-   The  profane-erotic  or  one-sided  Interpretations  of  the  Song  as  secular  history. 

That  many  of  the  most  ancient  Christian  interpreters  regarded  Canticles  as  a  Song  of  worldly 
love  portraying  voluptuous  and  sensual  images,  is  attested  by  Philastrius,  bishop  of  Brescia, 
(t  about  390)  who  adduces  this  view  in  his  list  of  heresies  as  one  of  the  heresies  of  his  time.  The- 
ODORET  (t  457),  who  combats  the  same  opinion,  already  enumerates  several  modifications  of  it. 
According  to  one,  Shulamith  was  some  bride  or  concubine  of  Solomon's,  according  to  another  Phar- 
aoh's daughter,  1  Kings  iii.  1,  according  to  another  still  Abishag  of  Shunera.  Among  the  ad- 
herents of  this  profane-erotic  exegesis,  Theodoret  had  doubtless  in  his  eye  Theodore  of  Mop- 
Buestia  {f  429),  the  well-known  advocate  of  a  strictly  literal  method  of  interpreting  Scripture  in 
the  sense  of  the  liberal  theology  of  Antiocli,  and  who  was  reproached  by  one  of  his  later  an- 
tagonists, LEONTins  of  Byzantium,  for  having  interpreted  the  Canticles  "libidinose  pro  sua 
menle  el  lingua  meretricia,"  and  whose  commentary,  therefore,  together  with  the  rest  of  his  works, 
was  ecclesiastically  anathematized  by  the  fifth  ecumenical  council  in  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Justinian  (553),  and  has  in  consequence  been  lost.  During  the  middle  ages  this  profane  mode 
of  explanation  entirely  ceased  even  among  the  theologians  of  Judaism.*  And  subsequently  in 
theperiodof  the  reformation  the  reformed  humanist,  Sebastian  Castellio  (1544),  was  the  first  to 
venture  again  to  explain  the  Song  as  a  "  colloquium  Salomoiiis  cum  amica  qiuidam  Sulainitha," 
and  on  account  of  this  alleged  purely  worldly  character  to  demand  that  it  should  be  banished 
from  the  canon  of  Scripture,  which  led  to  his  own  speedy  banishment  from  Geneva,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Calvin.**  In  the  following  century  Hugo  Grotius  trod  partly  at  least  in  his  footsteps, 
who,  it  is  true,  theoretically  admitted  the  propriety  of  a  typical  and  allegorical  Messianic  inter- 
pretation, but  in  fact  continued  to  stand  by  a  one-sided  literal  and  pretty  profane  interpretation ; 
also  Richard  Simon,  the  well-known  free-thinker  of  the  oratorio,  to  whom  the  book  appeared  to 
be  an  anthology  of  erotic  pieces  of  poetry  without  order  or  connection — whilst  others  went 
further  and  either  warned  against  reading  the  book  as  a  publication  injurious  to  morality  (Si- 
mon Episcopius),  or  thought  they  must  see  in  it  a  mere  idyl,  an  eclogue  with  coarse  compari- 
sons like  those  of  Polyphemus  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses  (John  Clericus).  Then,  soon  after 
Semleb's  and  J.  D.  Michaelis'  attempts  to  prove,  in  a  critical  way,  the  impossibility  of  an 
allegorical  or  in  general  of  any  spiritual  and  Messianic  view,  the  eighteenth  century  brought  the 
beginning  of  that  splintering  or  crumbling  process  initiated  by  Lessing  and  Herder  (see  §  1, 
Rem.  2),  as  well  as  the  modern-drama  mode  of  understanding  it,  the  way  for  which  was  paved 
by  J.  C.  Jacobi,  v.  Ammon,  Keller  and  others,  both  resting  on  the  assumption  that  the  con- 
tents of  the  book  were  decidedly  secular  and  erotic,  and  both  cultivated  and  variously  modified 
by  numerous  partisans,  scientific  and  unscientific,  down  to  the  most  recent  times.     And  then 

*  Yet  tha  party  combated  by  KiMCHI  in  his  Commentary  on  account  of  his  assertion  thai  Canticles  was  ft  .Song  of  worldly 
love  composed  by  Solomon  in  his  youth,  may  p  isaibiy  have  been  a  rabbi  of  an  earlier  period  in  the  middle  ages.  Comp. 
ElCHHORN,  Repertorium,  Part  XII.,  p.  2S3. 

«*  [Henet,  the  biographer  of  Calvin,  gives  a  full  account  of  this  whole  affair.  Das  Lebm  Johann  dttvins.  Vol.  II.,  pp. 
384-390.  He  affirms  that  Castellio  withdrew  of  his  own  accord  from  Geneva,  and  was  not  banished  from  the  place  nor 
Bent  away  in  disgrace.  Calvin,  though  obliged  to  express  his  disapproval  of  his  views,  conducted  himself  with  great 
lenieDcy  towards  Cabteluo  personally,  and  gave  him  on  his  departure  kindly  letters  to  his  friends. — Tr.] 


86  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

especially  in  the  dramatic  mode  of  understanding  it,  besides  the  assumption  of  a  simple  action 
with  but  one  love  in  the  case  (so  in  particular  Weissbach),  various  hypotheses  of  a  more  com- 
plicated sort  are  in  vogue,  according  to  which  two  (Umbp.eit,  Ewald,  e^c.and  generally  speak- 
ing the  majority)  or  even  three  pairs  of  lovers  (Hitziq,  Renan)  come  upon  the  stage. 

SPECIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

I.    THE   OLDER    PBOPANE-EROTIC    INTEBPRETEBS. 

(Until  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  all  proceeding  from  the  simple  assumption,  that  tha 
poem  sings  of  but  one  loving  relation,  viz.,  that  between  Solomon  and  Shulamith.) 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  (see  on  his  Commentarius  in  Cant.  Canticorum,  which  is  unfor- 
tunately entirely  lost :  Leontius  of  Byzantium,  adversus  iVeston'a/iOs  el  Eulychianos,  in  Gal- 
LANDH  Bihliotheca  Palrum,  Vol.  XII., and  comp.  the  monogriiphs  of  Sieffert  (1827),Fbitzsche 
(1836),  Klener  and  others).  ["In  the  tifth  century  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  ventured  on  as- 
serting that  the  bride  of  the  Song  of  Songs  was  none  other  than  the  Egyptian  princess  whom 
Solomon  espoused.  Whether  or  no  any  relics  of  the  interpretation  had  been  traditionally  pre- 
served in  the  East,  we  find  the  Jacobite  primate  Abul-Faraj  (t  1286)  allowing  in  his  Arabic 
history  the  Song  to  be  outwardly  a  dialogue  between  Solomon  and  Pharaoh's  daughter.  Other- 
wise the  name  of  Pharaoh's  daughter  has  not  been  traced  in  connection  witli  the  Song  till  the 
occurrence  of  a  reference  to  her,  though  even  then  '  merely  in  passing,'  in  some  of  the  first  printed 
English  Bibles  in  the  sixteenth  century.  [See  note  to  p.  9.]  The  assertion  of  Davidson  and 
others  after  him  that  she  makes  her  appearance  in  Origen  is  most  improbable ;  and  after  a  care- 
ful search  I  feel  assured  that  it  is  incorrect.  I  may  add  that  Perez  unjustly  charges  the  ancient 
Jews  with  asserting  that  the  Song  was  written  in  praise  of  her."  Thrdpp.  Moody  Stuart 
says  to  the  same  purport:  ''There  may  have  been  oversight  on  our  part,  but  we  have  not  found 
in  any  of  these  ancient  authors  [from  Origen  to  Bernard]  the  remotest  allusion  to  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  and  must  confess  ourselves  quite  baffled  in  a  somewhat  laborious  attempt  to  trace  her 
introduction  into  the  Song  of  Solomon."] 

Sebast.  Castellio,  Psallenum  reliquaque  saeranim  literarum  carmina  cu7n  argumenlis  el 
brevi  locorum  difficilionnn  declaratione.  Basil,  1547,  labors  in  general  to  dress  up  the  contents 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  Latin  as  classical  and  smooth  as  possible,  and  hence  everywhere  substitutes 
respiiblica  for  ecclesia,  heroes  for  sancli,  genius  for  angelus,  Phcebus  for  sol;  Jupiter  or  even 
Gradiviis,  Armipolens  for  Deus,  lolio  for  baptismus,  etc.,  and  in  Canticles  in  particular  makes 
use  of  sugary  fondling  and  softly  expressions  to  characterize  its  amatory  contents,  e.  g.,  i.  14  f. 
"  Mea  columbula  oslende  mihi  tuum  iruliiculum.  Fac  ut  audiam  tuam  voculam,  nam  el  voculavi 
venuslulam  el  vulliculum  habes  lepidulum,"  ii.  15  ;  "  capite  nobis  vulpecidas,  vinearum  vaslatricu- 
las,"  etc. — He  had  already  in  Geneva,  shortly  before  his  exile  noted  in  his  Bible  at  Cant.  vii.  1 
the  words  "  Stdamilha,  arnica  Salomonis  el  sponsa,"  and  had  declared  orally  to  C.\LVIN  :  "  que 
Salomon,  quand  il  fil  le  chapitre  vii,  Hail  en  folie  el  conduil  par  viondanili  el  non  par  le  Sainl 
Esprit.  ■' — for  which  reason  Calvin,  without  further  ado,  charged  him  with  the  view  that  Canti- 
cles was  a  "  carmen  obscosnum  el  lascivum,  quo  Salomo  impudicos  sues  amores  descrijiseril." — 
Comp.  also  his  complete  Latin  translation  of  the  Bible :  Biblia  V.etN.T.  ex  versions  Seb.  Cas- 
TALiONis  c.  ejusd.  annolall.,  Basil  ap.  Oporin  ,  1551,  and  frequently ;  as  well  as  Seb.  Castalionis, 
defensio  suarum  lra7islalionum  Bibltorum,  Bas.,  1562;  finally  his  biography  by  Jac.  Maehlt, 
Bas.,  1863.) 

Hugo  Grotius,  Annolaliones  in  V.  T.,  Par.  1664  (declares  the  Song  of  Solomon  to  be  an 
idyl-like  carmen  nupliale,  representing  the  ''  garrilus  conjugum  inter  se,  Sahmonis  et  filiw 
regis  ./Egypli,  interloquenlibus  eliam  choris  duobus  lam  juvenum  quam  virginum,  qui  in 
proximis  ihalamo  locis  excubabant."  "  Nap}liarum  arcana"  he  says  further,  "sub  honeslis 
verborum  involucris  hie  latent:  quae  etiam  causa  est,  cur  Hebrwi  veleres  hunc  librum  legi 
noluerint  nisi  a  jam  conjugio  proximis."  Besides  the  sensus  hleralis,  the  allegoricus  and  li/jneus 
are  also  to  be  duly  regarded — a  rule,  however,  which  is  almost  entirely  disregarded  by  him  even 
in  the  main  controlling  passages.  Comp.  the  still  bolder  and  more  open  procedure  of  S.  Epis- 
copius  in  his  Instiluliones  TheologicB. 


§  G.    HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  37 


Richard  Simon,  Hisloire  Qriiique  du  V.  T.,  1685,  Vol.  I.  c.  4 ;  Canticles,  a  collection  of 
erotic  idyllic  songs,  without  order  or  unity. 
John  Cleeicus,  Commentarms  in  V.  T.,  Tiibing.,  1733  ff. 

II.     LATER    AND    LATEST   SINCE    THE    MIDDLE    OP    THE    18TH    CENTTIEY. 

a.  The  founders  nf  the  modern  profane  erotic  view  (adhering  in  the  first  instance  only  to 
the  more  general  results  of  the  negative  criticism). 

John  Solomon  Semler,  "Kurze  Vorslelhmg  wider  die  neue Paraphrasin  uber  das Hohelied" 
[Brief  remonstrance  against  the  new  paraphrase  of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  1757,  and  "  De 
mysliccK  interpretationis  studio  hodie  panim  utili,"  1760. 

John  David  Michaelis,  in  Rob.  Lowth.  prmlectiones  de  s.  poesi  Hehraorum  notm  et  epimetra, 
Gcetting.,  1758  ;  ed.  II,  1768  f.,  rejects,  nay  ridicules  the  allegorical  interpretation  as  well  of  the 
Church  as  of  the  Synagogue  ;  holds  the  poem  to  be  a  mere  earthly  love-song,  and  nevertheless 
supposes  that  he  can  relieve  or  remove  the  offence  of  its  standing  in  the  canon  by  seeking  to 
understand  its  amatory  contents  of  the  "  casti  conjugum  amores,"  instead  o{"de  sponso 
sponsaque  ante  nuplias  "  In  the  "  Neuorientalxsche  und  exeget.  Bibliothek;"  Part  IV,  1788, 
he  affirms  that  he  would  rather  venture  upon  the  explanation  of  the  Apocalypse  than  upon 
that  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  in  his  "Deutsche  Uebersetzung  des  A.  T.  mit  Anmerhmgen 
fur  Ungelehrte  "  [German  translation  of  the  0.  Test.,  with  remarks  for  the  unlearned]  1769  ff. 
he  leaves  it  out  entirely. 

b.  The  Divisive  attempts  or  fragmentary  hypotheses.  (Canticles,  a  conglomerate  of  erotic 
songs  and  fragments  of  songs). 

J.  Th.  Lessins,  Edogce  regis  Salomonis,  Lips.  1777,  compares  the  alleged  idyls  of  Canticles 
to  those  of  Theocritus  and  Virgil. 

J.  G.  Herder,  "  Lieder  der  Liebe,  die  dllesten-  und  schonsten  aus  dem  Morgenlande  "  [Songs 
of  love,  the  oldest  and  most  beautiful  of  the  Orient],  1778,  declares  the  love  depicted  in  Canticles 
to  be  essentially  pure  and  innocent,  to  be  compared  with  the  love  of  Adam  and  Eve,  whilst 
they  continued  naked  and  sinless  in  paradise,  and  censures  the  profane  mode  of  treating  it 
equally  with  the  allesorical  explanation  as  hypocrisy,  and  lacking  in  moral  and  esthetic  purity. 
(Comp  Umbreit,  in  Herzog's  Heal  Enc.  VI.  p.  215  :  "  All  the  lily  purity  and  the  full  fragrance 
of  the  Song  has  been  transferred  to  his  composition,  which  is  in  entire  sympathy  with  it,  and 
even  the  clare-obscure,  which  is  elsewhere  made  an  objection  to  this  extraordinary  man,  is  here 
an  advantage  to  him  as  an  interpreter;  the  rosy  morning  light,  which  is  spread  over  the  Song 
itself,  floats  likewise  over  his  exposition,  and  invests  it  with  its  very  peculiar  charm  and  fasci- 
nation. To  this  belongs  even  his  profound  and  delicate  distribution  of  the  whole  into  separate 
voices,  accordant  only  in  the  breath  of  love,  though  here  we  cannot  agree  with  him,"  etc.) 

J.  G.  Eichhorn,  Einleitimg  in's  A.  T.  [Introduction  to  the  0.  Test.]  Vol.  III.  Leipzig,  1780, 
ff.,  agrees  in  all  esspntial  matters  with  Herder's  esthetically -sublimating  and  critically-dissecting 
view:  so  Hupsagel,  in  Eichhorn's  .Sepertoriwrn,  VII,  199 ;  Paulus  and  Velthusen,  iiirf, 
XVII,  108  ff  (see  above,  I  1,  Rem.  1) ;  Jahn,  Einl.  in's  A.  T.  II.  p.  816  ff. ;  Pareau.  Inslita- 
tio  interpretis  V.  T.,  p.  559 ;  de  Wette,  Einleitung  in  die  Kanon.  und  Apokryph.  Buck,  des 
A.  T,  Berl,,  1817,  and  repeatedly;  Auqdsti,  Grundriss  einer  Hist.-Kril.  Einl.  [Outlines  of  a 
historico-critical  Introduction].  1806,  1827. 

J.  F.  Kledker,  Sammhmg  der  Gedichle  Salome's,  sonsl  das  Hohelied  genannl  [Collection 
of  the  Songs  of  Solomon,  otherwise  called  the  Canticles],  1780,  reproduces  the  view  of  Herder 
with  slight  modifications,  only  somewhat  more  learned  and  thorough ;  comp.  §  1,  Rem.  1. 

J.  Che.  Doderlein,  Salomo's  Prediger  und  Hoheslied  neu  uhersetzl  mit  Anmerkungen 
[Solomon's  Ecclesiastes  and  Canticles,  newly  translated,  with  remarks],  1784 ;  2d  edit.,  1792, 
likewise  adheres  most  strictly  to  Herder. 

Velthusen,  "Der  Schivesternhandel,  eine  morgerddndische  Idyllenkette"  [The  affair  of  the 
sisters,  a  series  of  oriental  idyls],  1786,  and:  "Amethyst,  Beitrag  hist.-krilischer  Unter- 
suchungen  uber  das  Hohelied"   [Amethyst;   a  contribution   to   the  historico-critical   investi- 


38  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

gation  of  Canticles]  Brunsw.,  1786;  likewise:  OantUena  CarUilenarum  Salomonis  dupUci 
inlerpretcUione  iUusirata,  Helmst.,  1786. 

J.  F.  Gaab,  Beitrdge  zur  Erkldrung  des  sog.  Hoherdiedes  und  der  Klagelieder  [Contribution* 
to  the  explanation  of  the  so-called  Canticles  and  the  Lamentations],  Tub.,  1795 ;  Canticles  an 
"  anthology"  of  erotic  songs. 

JnsTi,  Blumen  alt-hebraischer  Dichtkunsl  [Flowers  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  art  of  poetry], 
Giessen,  1807. 

J.  C.  DopKE,  Philologisch-kritischer  Commenlar  zwrn  Hohenliede  Salomo's,  Leipz.,  1829,  holds 
that  the  songs  forming  the  Canticles,  "  many  of  which  appear  in  a  mutilated  condition,  were 
not  originally  composed  and  committed  to  writing  at  the  same  time,  but  were  prepared  on  various 
(looaaions,  probably  preserved  in  the  mouth  of  the  people,  and  afterwards  put  together."  Comp. 
in  opposition  Umbeeit's  review  in  the  Slud.  und  Krit.,  1829,  II. 

Ed.  Isid.  Magnus,  Kritische  Bcarbeitung  und  Erkldrung  des  Hohenliedes  Salomo's  [Critical 
treatise  on  and  explanation  of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  Halle,  1842,  makes  out  no  less  than 
twenty  distinct  songs  and  fragments  of  songs  in  the  course  of  the  poem  ;  comp.  |  1,  Rem.  2,  as 
well  as  DELITZ.SCH,  p.  2  ff. 

Heiligstedt,  in  Mauree's  Commentarius  grammaticus  crilieui  in  V.  T.  IV,  2,  1848,  regards 
tlie  whole  as  a  combination  of  twelve  erotic  songs  in  one  idyl ;  comp.  \  1,  Rem.  3. 

Rebenstein,  Das  Lied  der  Lieder  [The  Song  of  Songs],  1834. 

Dan.,  Sandees,  Z>a.s.flbAefierf  &ifeTOO??is  [The  Song  of  Solomon]  Leipz.  1866.  Comp.  on  this 
modern  Jewish  attempt  at  exposition,  as  well  as  on  the  preceding,  which  serves  as  its  basis  and 
model,  I  1,  Rem.  2,  and  Delitzsch,  p.  6  f. 

E.  W.  Lossner,  Salomo  und  Shulamith,  die  Blumen  des  Hohenlieds  zu  einem  Strausse  gebun- 
den  [Solomon  and  Shulamith,  the  flowers  of  the  Canticles  tied  together  in  one  nosegay],  Leipz. 
1851  (comp.  likewise  |  1,  Rem.  2). 

c.  The  modern  dramatic  view.  (The  Song  of  Solomon  an  erotic  drama  with  two  or  mor'^ 
principal  personages,  that  is,  either  with  a  simpler  or  — by  the  assumption  of  several  love  affairs 
— a  more  complicated  action). 

J.  C.  Jacob!  (Preacher  at  Celle),  Das  durch  eine  leichfe  und  unqekHiutelte  Erkldrung  von  seinen 
Vorwurfen  gerettefe  Hohelied  [The  Song  of  Solomon  freed  from  objections  by  a  simple  and  in- 
artificial explanation]  1771.  The  whole  a  song  in  praise  of  conjugal  fidelity,  if  not  strictly  dra- 
matic, yet  preserving  the  dialogue  form,  worthy  of  a  sacred  poet,  and  instructive  and  .salutary 
for  the  times  of  Solomon  and  his  successors. — "Shulamith  is  by  reason  of  her  beauty  brought  to 
Solomon's  court  together  with  her  husband,  who  has  been  moved  by  kindness  to  divorce  her  (?)  ; 
and  as  they  are  taking  her  away  from  her  husband's  side  and  presenting  her  wine,  the  king  ap- 
proaches and  offers  to  kiss  her.  Shulamith  is  alarmed  and  cries  to  her  husband:  "  he  is  going 
to  kiss  me !  "  etc. — The  entire  attempt  is  very  awkward  and  clumsy  throughout. 

J.  W.  Fb.  Hezel,  Neue  Uebersetzung  und  Erkldrung  des  Hohenlieds  [New  Translation  and  Ex- 
planation of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  1777. 

Che.  Fr.  v.  Ammon,  Salomo's  verschmdhte  Liebe  oder  die  bdohnte  Treue  [Solomon's  love  dis- 
dained, or  fidelity  rewarded]  Leipz.,  1795  (likewise  important  on  account  of  the  attempt  to  show 
that  the  poem  is  strictly  one  melodramatic  whole). 

K.  Fe.  Staeudlin,  uber  das  Hohelied  [on  the  Song  of  Solnrann]  in  Paulas'  Memorabilien,  Part  2, 
p.  178  ff.,  like  Jacobi  only  in  a  more  di-licate  and  skilful  manner  he  makes  Shulamith's  country 
lover  come  likewise  upon  the  stage,  and  assigns  to  him  a  considerable  share  in  the  action,  espe- 
cially from  ch.  6  onward. 

K.  Fr.  Umbreit,  Lied  der  Liebe,  das  dllestr  und  sclwnste  aus  dem  Morgenlande  [Song  of  love 
the  oldest  and  most  beautiful  of  the  orient]  Gott.  1820;  2d  Edit.  19,2%,  mA  Erinnerung  an 
das  Hohelied  [Reminder  of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  1839,  aims  at  the  utmost  simplification  of  the 
plot,  andlikewi.se  the  ethical  idealizing  of  its  contents  in  imitation  of  Herder's  esthetic  view; 
he  moreover  declares  viii.  8-14  to  be  a  spurious  addition. 

H.  Ewald,  Das  Hohelied  Salomonis  iibersefzt  mil  Einl.,  Annierkungen,  etc.,  [The  Song  of  Solo- 
mon translated  with  an  Introduclion,  Remarks,  etc.]    G(itt.,  1826;  comp.  die  poet.  Bvchcr  dis  A. 


J  6.    HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  39 

rV,  I.  1839;   2d  eJit,   with  the  title:    Die  Dichter  des  A.  Bds.,  etc.   [The  poets  of  the  Old 
Test.],  1806  (see  above,  J  3,  Rem.  1  and  2.) 

KosTER,  iiber  das  Hohelied  [On  the  Song  of  Solomon]  in  Pelt's  Theol.  Mitarbeiten  for  th« 
year  1839,  No.  2. 

Bebnhard  Hiezel,  Dm  Lied  der  Lieder  oder  der  Sieg  der  Treii^,  ubersetzt  und  crkldrt  [The 
Song  of  Songs,  or  the  triumph  of  fidelity,  translated  and  explamed];  Zurich,  1840,  substantially 
follows  EwALD,  whose  view  he  seeks  to  correct  in  particular  pa.ssages. 

Fb.  Bottcher,  Die  ditesten  Buhnendichtungen  [The  oldest  stage-poetry],  Leipz.,  1850;  comp. 
Ex:eget.-Krit.  Aehrenlese  z.  A.  T.  [Exegetical  and  critical  gleanings  in  the  Old  Test.],  1849,  p. 
80  ff ,  and  Nexie  Exeget.-Krit.  Aehrenlese  [New  exeget.  crit.  gleanings].  Part  III.,  1865,  p.  76 
if.  He  explains  the  Song  of  Solomon  as  "  a  melodramatic  text  of  a  popular  stage-play  per- 
formed in  the  kingdom  of  Israel  about  B.  C.  950,  directed  against  the  royal  house  of  Solomon 
and  the  morals  of  his  harem  so  menacing  to  family  life,  and  the  exhibition  accompanied  after  the 
manner  of  Hindoo,  Chinese  and  even  ancient  Italian  dramas  by  acting  and  brief  improvisa- 
tions ;"  in  order  to  give  the  whole  as  burlesque  and  clownish  a  character  as  possible,  he  makes 
the  shepherd  penetrate  several  times  into  the  royal  harem  from  i.  15  onward  (i.  15  flf. ;  iv.  7  flF. ; 
vii.  12  ff.),  treat  his  comrades,  v.  1,  to  the  viands  and  liquors  of  the  wedding  feast,  and  finally, 
vii.  12  fF,  go  off  with  his  beloved,  without  the  king  doing  anything  to  prevent  it,  etc. — Comp.  \  2, 
Remark  1. 

G.  M.  RocKE,  Das  Hohelied,  Erstlingsdrama  aus  dem  Morgenlande,  oder  Familiensunden 
und  Liebesweilie .  Ein  Sittcnspiegel fiir  Brautsland  und  Eke  [The  Song  of  Solomon,  a  primitive 
drama  from  the  orient,  or  family  sins  and  love's  devotion.  A  moral  mirror  for  the  betrothed 
and  married],  Halle,  1851.  He  explains  a  large  part  of  the  various  scenes  as  dreams,  some  of  which 
were  directly  represented  (by  apparitions  of  ghosts),  and  some  narrated  subsequently  (so,  e.  g., 
ii.  8-17 ;  iii.  1-5 ;  v.  2-vi.  3) ;  he  takes  other  sections  as  v.  8  ff.  ;  vi.  11  ff.  to  be  rhapsodies  of 
Shulamith's  romantic  and  enthusiastic  fancy,  etc.) 

E.  Meier,  Dm  Hohelied,  etc.  [The  Song  of  Solomon]  Tubingen,  1854,  returns  to  the  sim- 
pler and  more  moderate  view  of  Ewald. 

F.  HiTZiG,  Das  Hohelied  erkldrt  [The  Song  of  Solomon  explained]  in  the  Kurzgefasstes  exe- 
get. Handb.  zum  A.  T.  [Condensed  exegetical  manual  to  the  Old  Test.],  Part  16,  Leipzig,  1855. 
brings  in  besides  Shulamith  and  her  country  lover — comp.  §  2,  Rem.  1, — also  Solomon's  wife 
(e.  g.,  iii.  6-11 ;  iv.  16  ff.),  and  one  of  his  concubines  (vii.  2-11)  speaking  and  acting,  thus  making 
the  plot  as  complicated  as  possible. 

E.  F.  Feiedp.ich,  Cantici  Canticorum  Salomonis  poetica  forma,  1855,  and  "  Das  sogen.  Ho- 
helied Salomonis  oder  vielmehr  das  pathetische  Dramation  'Sulamiih '  parallelistisch  aus  dem 
Hebr.  iiberselzt "  [The  so-called  Song  of  Solomon,  or  rather  the  pathetic  drama  '  Shulamith ' 
translated  from  the  Hebrew  in  parallelisms].  Reprinted  from  the  Alfpreussische  Monatsschrift , 
Konigsberg,  1866.  He  seeks  with  the  minutest  care  to  dissect  the  artistic  structure  of  the  dra- 
matic whole  in  its  details,  distinguishing  four  acts  with  ten  scenes  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
chain-links  [calellas],  or  clauses  into  which  the  verses  are  sub-divided  ;  he  mingles  with  it 
much  that  is  trifling  and  incongruous  without  doing  justice  in  any  way  to  the  theological 
character  of  the  poem. 

J.  Q.  Vaihisgee,  Der  Prediger  und  das  Hohelwd  rhythmisch  ubersetzt  und  erklavt  [Ec- 
clesiastea  and  the  Song  of  Solomon  rhythmically  translated  and  explained],  Stutt.,  1858, 
follows  for  the  most  part  the  view  of  Ewald,  but  with  a  critically  independent  attitude. 

Fe.  Ed.  VVeissbach,  Das  Hohelied  Salomo's  ubersetzt  erkldrt  und  in  seiner  kunstreichen poet. 
Form,  dargestellt  [The  Song  of  Solomon  translated,  explained  and  exhibited  in  its  highly  artistic 
and  poetical  form],  Leipz.,  1858;  by  an  acute  and  thorough  criticism  of  the  other  erotic  and  dra- 
matic views  he  simplifies  the  action  of  the  piece  to  the  extent  of  making  it  refer  simply  to  ona 
loving  relation  between  Solomon  and  Shulamith,  but  denies  the  reality  of  the  transaction  (comp. 
34,  Rem.  2),  and  in  connection  with  this  refuses  also  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  more  profound 
ethical  idea,  or  a  typical  and  Messianic  significance  of  the  poem). 

Ernest  Renan,  Le  canlique  des  cantiques,  traduit  de  I'  Hehreu,  avec  une  etude  sur  le  p'",n. 
V  ige  et  le  caraclere  dupoeme,  Paris,  1860,  2d  edit.,  1861,  approaches,  most  nearly  to  the  views 


40  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

of  BbTTCHEK  and  Hitzig,  only  he  fantastically  remodols  them  after  his  own  fashion,  and  thus 
brings  out  a  romantic  sentimental  pastoral  piece,  in  which  even  a  ballet  is  introduced  (vii.  2  ff; 
"une  dameme  dii  Harem").     Comp.  ?  2,  Rem.  1. 

g  7.   CONCLUSION. 

e.  ITie  typical- Messianic  view,  or  that  based  upon  its  position  in  the  redemptive  history. 

The  two  principal  modes  of  viewing  the  Song  of  Solomon  thus  far  considered,  the  purely  alle- 
gorical as  well  as  the  one-sided  treatment  of  it  as  secular  history,  not  only  have  the  suspicious  cir- 
cumstance against  them  that  the  greatest  vacillation  prevails  in  shaping  the  views  of  their  ad- 
herents in  detail  from  the  earliest  periods  to  the  present,  and  that  no  one  of  these  views  com- 
mends itself  at  first  sight  as  a  perfectly  satisfactory  solution  of  the  enigma ;  but  both  of  them  in- 
troduce into  the  test  of  the  Song  strange  and  unproved  assumptions  which  are  in  flat  contradic- 
tion with  its  peculiar  character  both  internally  and  externally.  The  allegorical  explanation, 
however  it  may  be  modified  in  its  details,  malies  the  utterly  inconceivable  and  improbable,  nay, 
monstrous  assumption,  that  by  the  "  king  Solomon  "  of  the  song  is  meant  not  the  historical  ruler 
so  named,  but  a  heavenly  prototype  of  the  same  name,  nay,  in  actual  fact,  no  other  than  Jehovah 
Himself,  and  then  further  involve3  itself  in  inextricable  difficulties  in  its  explanation  of  particu- 
lars, e.g.,  of  the  sixtv  queens  and  eighty  concubines  of  this  heavenly  Solomon,  as  well  as  of  his 
mother,  his  sedan  and  crown,  etc.  To  which  is  to  be  added  further  the  suspicious  circumstance 
that  in  every  other  instance  in  which  the  figurative  language  of  the  Old  Test,  symbolizes  the  re- 
lation of  Jehovah  to  Israel  as  a  marriage  or  betrothal,  it  is  the  bride  that  is  represented  in  the 
least  favorable  light,  nay,  that  is  mostly  described  as  a  harlot*  (so  particularly  in  Hosea,  Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel;  comp.  above,  ?  4,  p.  16),  whilst  in  the  Song  of  Solomon  the  precise  opposite  of 
this  is  the  case  [?].  The  profane  secular-history  explanation  not  only  sees  itself  driven  to  various 
artificial  hypotheses  and  auxiliary  hypotheses,  especially  to  the  introduction  of  one,  two,  three 
or  more  subordinate  persons,  whose  entrance  upon  the  scene  there  is  nothing  in  the  text  to  indi- 
cate, and  which,  as  particularly  the  "shepherd"  or  "herdsman,"  are  introduced  as  apparitions, 
suddenly  and  without  any  thing  to  prepare  the  way  for  their  coming ;  it  also  leaves  totally  un- 
explained how  this  mere  worldly  love-song,  in  which  Solomon  is  alleged  to  be  represented  in  so 
extremely  disadvantageous  a  light  as  the  seducer  of  female  innocence,  could  have  found  admis- 
sion to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  and  this  with  a  title,  which  prefixed  to  it  with  commendatory 
emphasis  the  very  name  of  Solomon  himself,  the  great  royal  singer  and  sage  (comp.  |  1  and  3)  ! 
Against  the  allegorical  or  directly  Messianic  view  testimony  is  borne  by  the  too  earthly  and  even 
sinful  colors,  in  which  Solomon,  the  historical  Solomon  of  the  1st  book  of  Kings,  is  depicted  as 
the  hero  of  the  piece.  The  one-sided  secular  history  explanation  with  its  directly  anti-Solomonic 
and  consequently  also  an ti- Messianic  tendencies  is  refuted  by  the  fact  that  Solomon's  perseve- 
rance in  his  adulterous  designs  and  polygamous  desires  in  the  face  of  Shulamith's  innocence, 
cannot  be  shown  to  be  a  matter  belonging  to  the  subject  of  the  piece  by  a  single  decisive  proof- 
passage,  but  that  on  the  contrary  it  is  evident  to  an  unbiassed  exegesis  that  he  and  no  other  is 
Shulamith's  lover,  and  the  real  object  of  the  dramatic  representation  is  his  being  brought  back 
from  the  dizzy  heights  of  a  harem's  voluptuous  morals,  to  the  morally  pure  and  inviolable 
standpoint  of  conjugal  chastity,  love  and  fidelity. 

Since  the  typical  reference  of  the  loving  relation  depicted  in  the  piece  to  Christ  and  His  Church, 
enters  into  combination  with  this  simple  and  worthy  view  in  the  most  unconstrained  manner 
and  of  its  own  accord  as  it  were,  as  has  been  already  briefly  intimated  J  4,  and  as  the  exposition 
of  the  Song  will  have  to  show  more  in  detail,  this  may  be  designated  the  typical-Messianic,  or — 
since  every  element  of  the  redemptive  history  possesses  of  itself,  and  by  an  inner  necessity,  a 
typical  virtue  which  points  forwards  and  upwards — the  redemptive-history  view.  Attempts  to 
establish  and  carry  it  out  were  probably  already  made  here  and  there  in  the  ancient  church,  es- 
pecially as  New  Testament  pa.ssages,  such  as  above  all  Christ's  declaration  respecting  Himself  as 
a  greater  than  Solomon   (Matt.  xii.  42;  comp.  Matt.  vi.  28;  Rev.  iii.   20),   a p near  to  favor  it 

•  [This  Scriptural  uaago  manifestly  lies  against  ZOckler's  own  interpretation  rather  than  the  allegorical,  os  commonlj 
held.— Tr.] 


§  7.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  41 

rather  than  the  allegorical  or  the  direct  Messianic  interpretation.  But  the  greatly  preponder- 
ating inclination  of  the  fathers,  which  soon  attained  exclusive  sway,  to  plunge  immediately  and 
at  once  into  the  spiritual  sense,  must  have  stifled  in  its  birth  every  attempt  to  assert  at  the  same 
time  a  historical  sense,  and  branded  it  with  the  same  anathema  as  the  profane-erotic  interpreta- 
tion of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia.  It  was  not  until  after  the  middle  ages,  therefore,  that  more 
numerous  and  important  attempts  were  made  to  unite  the  historical  with  the  more  profound 
spiritual  meaning  by  the  intermediate  link  of  the  type.and  attempts  not  barely  of  the  half-way, 
external  sort,  like  that  of  Grotius  (see  ?  6),  but  such  as  were  seriously  meant  and  worthily 
maintained.  Thus  above  all  that  of  the  noble  Spanish  mystic,  Louis  de  Leon  (t  1591),  who  had  it 
is  true  to  pay  the  penalty  in  the  prisons  of  the  inquisition  of  his  departure  from  the  broadly 
trodden  path  of  the  traditional  allegorizing,  as  well  as  his  choice  of  the  Spanish  language  for 
the  composition  of  his  commentary;  and  further  the  like  attempts  of  the  reformed  interpre- 
ters, Mercieb,  Lightfoot  and  Lowth,  as  well  as  of  the  famous  Catholic  preacher  and  his- 
torian BossuET.  VON  HoFM.!iNN  still  tries  to  maintain  the  assumption  common  to  these  former 
adherents  of  the  typical  view,  that  the  bride  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  was  a  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  whilst  Delitzsch  and  Naegelsbach  who  in  the  main  agrees  with  him, 
espouse  the  view,  which  is  without  doubt  to  be  preferred  by  reason  of  vii.  1,  that  the  bride  was 
an  Israelitish  country  girl  from  Shunem. 

SPECIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Luis  de  Leon  [Ludovicus  Legionensis),  Cantar  de  los  Cantares — a  translation  and  explana- 
tion of  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  classical  Spanish,  written  about  1569.  (According  to  the  ex- 
tracts given  by  G.  A.  Wilkens,  Fray  Luis  de  Leon,  p.  206  fF.,  and  the  remarks  by  which  he 
characterizes  it,  this  expositor  every  where  gives  most  prominence  to  the  historical  sense  which 
he  grasps  with  sound  esthetic  feeling  and  artless  simplicity.  "  Only  in  individual  passages  is 
the  veil  lifted  and  the  love  of  Jehovah  to  His  people,  of  Christ  to  the  soul,  of  believers  to  the 
Lord,  appears  as  in  the  highest  sense  the  rightful  bearer  of  all  the  attributes  heaped  upon  hu- 
man Inve.  For  pure  human  love  is  the  noblest  copy  of  the  divine.  They  are  alike  in  their 
mutual  aspirations,  alike  in  their  beginning,  nutriment,  development,  operation,  end  ;  as  also 
earthly  beauty  is  the  shadow  of  the  eternally  beautiful.  Thus,  too,  the  reception  of  the  book 
into  the  canon  is  explained.  The  divine  Spirit  has  in  condescension  to  human  weakness  veiled 
the  spiritual  beauties  of  good  things  yet  unknown  in  figures  of  things  which  are  real,  lovely  and 
well  known.  We  should  learn  to  joy  over  the  distant  from  the  joy  which  the  near  affords,  and 
thus  suffer  ourselves  to  be  drawn  to  Him,  who  loves  us  above  all." — Fray  Ltjis  conceives  the 
theme  of  the  book  to  be  simply  "  the  bliss  and  pain  of  love  "  described  in  the  form  of  a  pastoral 
poem,  in  which  king  Solomon  is  represented  as  a  shepherd,  and  his  bride  Shulamith,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Egyptian  king,  as  a  shepherdess.  Their  love  is  depicted  in  the  nicest  and  most  per- 
fect manner  ;  in  other  amatory  poems  there  is  only  found  a  shadow  of  the  feeling  and  bliss  of 
love,  here  love  is  described  in  primal  perfection  even  to  the  most  subtle  features  of  its  being. — 
As  the  inquisition  at  Valladolid  took  offence  at  this  treatise  on  Canticles,  partly  on  account  of 
its  contents,  and  partly  because  it  was  written  in  Spanish,  it  remained  unprinted,  and  Leon 
published  subsequently,  after  he  had  languished  five  years  in  prison,  for  his  complete  justifica- 
tion a  Latin  treatise  "  Fr  L.  Legionensis,  In  Cantica  Caniicormn  Salomonis explanaiio"  (Salom., 
1580),  in  which,  besides  the  historical  sense,  he  also  stated  the  spiritual  more  fully,  and  this 
partly  in  the  allegorical,  partly  the  typical  method.     Comp.  Wilkens,  Ibid.,  p.  317  ff.). 

Jo.  Mercerus  [le  Mereier),  Commentarius  in  Job,  Proverbia,  Ecclesiast  el  Cant.  Canticorum, 
1573. 

John  Lightfoot,  Harmonia,  Chronica  el  Ordo  Vel.  Testamenli:  Opera,  Traj.  ad  Kh. 
1699.  [A  Chronicle  of  the  Times  and  the  Order  of  the  Texts  of  the  Old  Testament;  in  his 
Works,  London,  1684.  He  says  I ,  p  76.  "After  the  building  of  the  summer-house  in  the  for- 
est of  Lebanon,  Solomon  pens  the  book  of  the  Canticles,  as  appeareth  by  these  passages  in  it, 
Cant.  iv.  8;  vii.  4.  Upon  his  bringing  up  Pharaoh's  daughter  to  the  house  that  he  had  prepared 
for  her,  1  Kings  ix.  24,  he  seemeth  to  have  made  this  Song.  For  though  the  best  and  the  most 
proper  aim  of  it  was  at  higher  matters  than  an  earthly  marriage,  yet  doth  he  make  his  marriage 


42  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SOXG  OF  SOLOMON. 

with  Pharaoh's  daughter  a  type  of  that  sublime  and  spiritual  marriage  betwixt  Christ  and  Hij 
church.  Pharaoh's  daughter  was  a  heathen  and  a  stranger  natively  to  the  church  of  Israel ;  and 
withal  she  was  a  black-moor,  as  being  an  African,  as  Cant.  i.  4,  5  alludeth  to  it;  and  so  she  was 
the  kindlier  type  of  what  Solomon  intended  in  all  particulars. — Tr.] 

Rob.  Lowth,  De  Sacra  poesi  Hebrmonim  prcBlectiones  academicce ;  Oxon.,  1753,  1763  (prcel. 
?>0  ff.)  [In  the  scheme  and  divisions  of  the  book  he  adopts  the  view  of  Bossuet  to  be  stated 
presently.  In  regard  to  its  spiritual  meaning  he  contends  that  it  is  neither  a  "  continuous  met- 
aphor," nor  a  "  parable  properly  so  called,"  but  a  "  mystical  allegory  in  which  a  higher  sense  ia 
superinduced  upon  a  historical  verity."  The  bride  he  decides,  though  not  without  hesitation,  to 
have  been  Solomon's  favorite  wife,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh ;  his  marriage  with  an  Egyptian 
being  an  apt  adumbration  of  the  Prince  of  peace,  who  espouses  to  Himself  a  church  composed 
of  Gentiles  and  of  aliens.  Her  name  he  expresses  in  the  form  Solomitis,  as  denved  from  Solo- 
mon, like  Caia  from  Caius,  and  intended  to  be  suggestive  of  the  higher  sense  of  the  Song. — Tb.] 

Jacques-Benigne  Bossuet,  Libri  Salommiis,  Proverhia,  Ecdesiasles,  Caniic.  Canticorum, 
So,pieniia,  Ecclesiaslicus,  cum  notis,  etc.  Paris,  1693.  [He  supposes  the  Song  to  be  divided 
into  seven  parts,  corresponding  to  the  seven  days  of  the  marriage  feast.  It  commences  with  the 
bride's  being  brought  home  to  her  husband's  house  on  the  evening  which,  according  to  Jewish 
reckoning,  ushers  in  the  first  day.  Then  the  successive  mornings  are  indicated  by  the  adjura- 
tion of  the  bridegroom  as  he  leaves  his  chamber,  ii.  7;  iii.  5;  viii.  4.  or  by  the  admiring  lan- 
guage of  the  choir  of  virgins  as  the  bride  herself  appears,  iii.  6  ;  viii.  5 ;  vi.  10.  The  evenings 
are  either  expressly  mentioned,  iii.  1  ;  v.  2,  or  may  be  inferred,  ii.  6  ;  viii.  3.  The  seventh  day 
is  shown  to  be  the  Sabbath  by  the  fact  of  the  bridegroom  coming  in  public  attended  by  his  bride, 
viii.  5,  instead  of  going  forth  alone  to  his  occupation  as  he  had  done  previously. — -Tk.] 

[A.  Calmet,  Commentaire  litMral  sur  k  Cantiqm  des  Cantiques.  "  His  views  are  substan- 
tially the  same  as  Bossuet's."] 

(Harmer),  Maierialien  zu  einer  neuen  Erkidrung  des  Hohenliedes,  Vom  Verfasser  der  Beo- 
h'lr.htungen  ubcr  den  Orient.  From  the  English,  2  Parts,  1778-79.  [The  original  title  is.  The 
Outlines  of  a  New  Commentary  on  Solomon's  Song,  drawn  by  the  help  of  Instructions  from  tho 
East,  containing^!.  Remarks  on  its^eneral  nature;  II.  Observations  on  detached  Places  of  il ; 
III.  Queries  concerning  the  rest  of  this  poem.  By  the  author  of  Observations  on  divers  Pas- 
sages of  Scripture.  London,  1768.]  He  explains  like  those  before  named,  the  whole  as  a  cele- 
bration of  Solomon's  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  leaves  the  profounder 
spiritual  meaning  almost  entirely  out  of  sight.  [He  finds  two  queens  in  the  course  of  the 
Song — the  former  principal  queen  who  speaks,  iii.  1,  etc.,  and  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  who  is 
henceforth  made  her  "equal  in  honor  and  privileges,"  and  who  is  "  frequently  mentioned  after- 
wards in  history,  while  the  other  is  passed  over  in  total  silence,"  this  new  marriage  being  an  apt 
representation  of  the  ■'  conduct  of  the  Messiah  towards  the  Gentile  and  Jewish  churches."— Tr.] 

Salvador,  Hinloire  des  institutions  de  Moise,  Vol.  II.     Paris,  1828  (like  the  preceding.) 

J.  Chr,  K.  v.  Hoffmann,  Wiissagung  und  ErfuUung  [Prophecy  and  Fulfilment]  I.,  189  ff.; 
ftchriflbeweis  [Scripture  proof]  II.,  2,  370  fif.  (corap.  above  |  2,  Rem.  1,  J  4,  Rem.  1.) 

Feanz  Delitzsch,  Das  Hohelicd  unlersucht  und  ausgelegl  [The  Song  of  Solomon  investigated 
and  expounded],  1851  (see  above,  I  2  and  4.) 

Ed.  Naegelsbach,  in  Reuter's  AUg.  Repertorium  der  theol.  Liieratur,  1851,  No.  IV. 

Schlottmann,  see  immediately  below. 

contributions  to  the  explanation  of  the  song  of  Solomon  in  monographs. 

G.  A.  RuPERTi,  Sijmbolce  ad  interpretationem  S.  C'odicis.   Vol.  l.,/asc.  1,  2,  Gotting.,  1782. 

P.  Andr.  van  Kooten,  Observatiniies  ad  nnnniMa  Cantic.  Canticorum  toca ;  disseriat.,  Ul- 
tra]., 1774. 

J.  F.  Neunhoper,  Versuch  eines  ne^ien  Beitrags  zur  Erkidrung  des  Hohenlieds  [Essay  toward 
a  new  contribution  to  the  explanation  of  the  Song  of  Solomon],  Leipz.,  1775. 

.\nton,  Satomonis  carmen  melicum  ad  metr. prise,  et  mod.  music,  rcvocatum.    Viteb.,  1793. 

J.  P.  Gaab,  Beitraeoe,  etc.    See  above,  p.  37. 

Lisdemann,  in  Keil's  iirarf  Tzschirner's  Anakktcn,  III.,  1,  p  1  ff. 


?  7.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  43 


Hartmann,  in  Winer's  Zeitackrift,  I.  3,  p.  420  ff. 

G.  HoELEMANN,  die  Krone  des  iZoAenfo'ecb  (allegorical  explanation  of  ch.  viii),  Leipz.,  1856. 

see  above,  p.  32. 

ScHLOTTMANN,  The  bridal  procession  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  (iii.  6-11)  in  the  Studien  und 
Kritiken,  1867,  II,  ranges  himself  at  the  very  begiuning  decidedly  on  the  side  of  the  typical 
expositors:  "Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  origin  and  strict  literal  sense  of  the  Song  of  Solo- 
mon, the  right  will  ever  verify  itself  anew,  to  see  in  the  love  there  represented  the  emblem  of 
the  higher  divine  love  which  unites  the  church  to  her  heavenly  Lord,"  etc.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY    BIBLIOORAPHY    ADDED    BY    THE    TRANSLATOR. 

Englwh  Commentaries  on  the  Song  of  Solomon. 
[Venerable  Bede  wrote  seven  books  on  the  Canticles.  The  first  is  "  a  controversial  preface 
warning  his  readers  against  the  Commentary  of  Julian  of  Eclanum  which  that  writer  had  made 
a  vehicle  for  his  Pelagian  doctrines."  This  betrayed  Williams  (and  Ginsburq,  who  copies  him) 
into  the  error  of  supposing  that  the  whole  "  work  was  intended  as  a  defence  of  the  doctrines  of 
grace  against  the  Pelagians."  The  seventh  book  "comprises  a  series  of  extracts  from  all  parts 
of  Gregory's  writings,  bearing  upon  the  Song."  In  the  other  five  books  "he  has  followed  the 
footsteps  of  the  fathers,  leaving  the  works  of  Gregory  intact." 

"The  Commentary  of  Foliot,  Bishop  of  London  in  the  12th  century,  with  the  Compendium 
of  Alcuin,  was  printed  in  1638,  and  is  repeatedly  referred  to  by  Dr.  Gill." 

ScoTus  is  favorably  spoken  of  by  Poole,  Si/nopsis  Crit.,  Vol.  It.,  Pref.,  as  not  one  of  the  last 
to  be  named  of  this  period  ;  "  author  no7i  inter  postremos  memorandus." 

The  first  three  chapters  of  the  Canticles,  with  Beza's  sermons  on  them,  translated  bv  John 
H.vrmar,  Oxford,  1587. 

Thomas  James  (librarian  at  O.xford),  Expositio  libri  Cantioorum,  ex  patribus.  4to,  Oxford 
1607. 

Thomas  Wilcocks,  An  Exposition  upon  the  book  of  the  Canticles,  London,  1624. 

Henoch  CLAPHAif,  The  first  Part  of  the  Song  of  Songs  expounded  and  applied,  London,  1602. 

Bishop  Hall,  An  open  and  plain  Paraphrase  upon  the  Song  of  Songs,  London,  1609. 

.1.  Be.\le,  Solomon's  Song  with  an  Exposition,  London,  1615. 

Henry  Ainsworth  (a  Brownist  divine),  Annotations  upon  the  five  books  of  Moses,  the  book 
of  the  Psalms,  and  the  Song  of  Songs  or  Canticles,  London,  1639.  This  volume  has  done  much 
to  shape  the  current  allegorical  exposition  of  the  Song.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  metrical  para- 
phrase. 

Thomas  Briohtman,  Commentary  on  the  Canticles,  London,  1044.  '■  He  regards  the  book  as 
prophetic,  and  divides  it  into  two  parts  ;  the  first,  chap,  i.— iv.  6,  describes  the  condition  of  the 

legal  church  from  the  time  of  David  to  the  death  of  Christ:  and  the  second,  chap.  iv.  7 viii.  14 

the  state  of  the  evangelical  church  from  A.  D.  34  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ." 

John  Cotton,  A  brief  Exposition  of  the  whole  book  of  Canticles,  London,  1648.  He  likewise 
regards  it  as  descriptive  of  the  state  of  the  church  from  Solomon's  own  time  to  the  last 
judgment. 

John  Robotham,  Exposition  on  the  whole  book  of  Solomon's  Song,  London,  1652. 

.\SSEMBLY  of  Divines,  Annotations  upon  all  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  Lon- 
don, 1657.  Very  brief  notes  raamly  occupied  with  suggesting  the  spiritual  import  of  the 
Song. 

W.  Guild.  Love's  Intercourse  between  the  Lamb  and  his  Bride,  Christ  and  His  Church,  in  a 
clear  explication  and  application  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  London,  1658. 

•James  Durham,  fjavis  Cantici,  London,  1668.  "  Published  after  his  death  with  a  recommen- 
dation by  Dr.  Owen." 

De  Veil,  Explicatio  Literalis  Cant.  Cant.,  London,  1679. 

John  Collinoes,  The  Intercourses  of  Divine  Love  betwixt  Christ  and  His  Church,  or  the 
particular  believing  soul,  metaphorically  expressed  by  Solomon  in  Canticles  i.  and  ii  ,  2  vols. 
Iiondon,  1683. 


44  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

John  Trapp,  A  Commentary  upon  the  book  of  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Solo- 
mon, London,  1650. 

Bishop  Patrick's  Paraphrase  and  Annotations  on  this  Song  were  published  in  1700 ;  Mat- 
thew Henry's  Exposition  a  few  years  after. 

Whiston  published  an  Essay  in  1723,  charging  the  Song  of  Solomon  with  containing  "  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  marks  of  folly,  vanity  and  looseness, '  maintaining  "  that  it  was  written 
by  Solomon  when  he  was  wicked,  and  foolish,  and  lascivious,  and  idolatrous,"  and  urging  its  re- 
jection from  the  sacred  canon. 

John  Gill,  An  Exposition  of  the  book  of  Solomon's  Song  commonly  called  Canticles,  London, 
1728.  "A  vast  treasure  of  varied  learning,  sound  doctrine  and  spiritual  experience  ;  but  it  is  neither 
sufficiently  condensed,  nor  is  it  so  digested  by  the  author  as  to  present  to  the  reader  a  clear  idea  of 
his  own  interpretation."  He  pushes  the  allegory  to  the  furthest  extreme,  and  attaches  every  sense 
to  the  words  which  they  can  possibly  bear.  The  first  edition  contains  a  translation  of  the  Tar- 
gum  upon  this  book.  Another  comment  by  the  same  author  is  contained  in  his  Exposition  of 
tlie  Old  and  New  Testament. 

John  Wesley,  in  his  Explanatory  notes  upon  the  Old  Testament,  Bristol,  1765,  also  defends 
the  allegorical  interpretation  of  this  book,  and  especially  disallows  its  reference  to  Solomon  and 
Pharaoh's  daughter. 

[Qifford],  a  Dissertation  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  with  the  original  text  divided  according 
to  the  metre  [upon  Bishop  Hare's  hypothesis],  and  a  poetical  version,  1751.  He  "  considers  the 
poem  as  a  pastoral  composed  by  Solomon  as  the  amusement  of  his  lighter  hours,  just  after  his 
nuptials  with  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  before  God  had  so  remarkably  appeared  to  him  and  given 
him  that  divine  wisdom,  for  which  he  was  afterwards  so  eminent." 

[Bishop  Percy],  The  Song  of  Solomon,  newly  translated  from  the  original  Hebrew,  with  a 
commentary  and  annotations,  London,  1764.  He  confines  himself  to  the  literal  sense,  and 
adopts  substantially  the  view  of  Bossuet  that  it  was  written  on  the  occasion  of  Solomon's  mar- 
riage with  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  is  divided  into  seven  parts  answering  to  the  seven  days  of 
the  wedding  feast. 

Mrs.  Bowdlee,  Song  of  Solomon  paraphrased,  with  an  introduction,  containing  some  remarks 
on  a  late  new  translation  (Percy's)  of  this  sacred  poem;  also  a  commentary  and  notes  critical 
and  practical,  Edinburgh,  177-5. 

DuRELL,  Critical  remarks  on  Job,  Proverbs,  Psalms,  Ecclesiastes  and  Canticles,  1772,  follows 
the  same  general  theory,  but  "  totally  excludes  any  allegorical  or  spiritual  design." 

The  Song  of  Solomon  paraphrased,  with  an  Introduction,  Commentary  and  Notes  (published 
anonymously),  Edinburgh,  1775. 

W.  Green,  The  Poetical  Parts  of  the  Old  Testament  translated,  with  notes,  1781. 

Bernard  Hodgson,  Solomon's  Song  translated  from  the  Hebrew,  Oxford,  1786.  "  The  mys- 
tical sense  of  the  Song  is  never  referred  to — not  denied,  still  less  acknowledged." 

T.  Williams,  The  Song  of  Songs,  which  is  by  Solomon,  a  new  translation  with  a  commentary 
and  notes,  London,  1801.  Republished  in  Philadelphia,  1803.  Adopts  like  the  preceding  the 
general  hypothesis  of  Bossdet  and  Lowth,  and  takes  note  of  the  spiritual  meaning  throughout. 

John  Mason  Good,  Song  of  Songs,  or  sacred  Idyls  translated,  with  notes  critical  and  explana- 
tory, London,  1803.  Containing  a  literal  prose  translation  and  a  very  elegant  metrical  version. 
"A  work  of  great  beauty,  in  which  the  author  allows  and  defends  the  allegorical,  but  confines 
himself  to  the  literal  sense."  He  "  regards  the  entire  song  as  a  collection  of  distinct  idyls  upon 
one  common  subject,  and  that  the  loves  of  the  Hebrew  monarch  and  his  fair  bride." 

William  Davidson,  Brief  outline  of  an  examination  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  with  remarks 
critical  and  expository,  London,  1817.  He  interprets  "the  Song  of  Solomon  of  the  Christian 
church  from  the  time  of  John  the  Baptist." 

Scott's  Notes  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Bible  follow  the  current  allegorical  exposition,  and 
are  largely  drawn  from  Bishop  Patrick. 

Adam  Clarke  eschews  the  allegorical  interpretation,  and  assigns  as  his  reasons  :  "  1.  Because 
we  do  not  know  that  it  is  an  allegory.  2.  If  one,  the  principles  on  which  such  allegory  is  to  be 
explained  do  nowhere  appear."     Appended  to  his  commentary  is  a  translation  of  the  Targum  or 


§  7.  HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  45 

Chaldee  paraphrase  of  this  book  ;  also  the  Hindoo  mystical  poem,  the  Gitagovinda,  which,  agreea- 
bly to  the  suggestion  of  Sir  William  Jones,  he  regards  as  illustrative  of  the  Song  of  Solomon. 

B.  BooTHEOYD,  The  Hebrew  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  without  points  after  the  text  of 
Kensicott,  accompanied  with  English  Notes,  critical,  pliilologioal  and  explanatory,  2  vols.  4to. 
The  notes  consist  for  the  most  part  of  extracts  from  preceding  commentators,  chiefly  Percy, 
Geeen,  Good,  Hodgson,  and  Haemee. 

John  Fey,  Canticles,  a  new  translation  with  notes,  London,  1811.  The  book  is  regarded  as  a 
collection  of  idyls,  some  of  which  were  suggested  by  the  marriage  of  Solomon,  others  by  different 
domestic  scenes  in  humble  life ;  but  all  are  parables  of  the  love  of  Christ  and  His  Church. 

Charles  Taylor  in  the  Biblical  Fragments  (Nos.  345-453)  appended  to  Calmet's  Diction- 
ary, 1838.  Well  characterized  by  Moody  Stdaet;  '-His  translation  and  arrangement  of  the 
Song  of  Songs — relating  merely  to  its  outward  structure  as  Solomon's  marriage  festival — evince 
great  research,  abundant  ingenuity,  the  utmost  delicacy  and  refinement  of  feeling,  along  with  a 
most  exuberant  fancy." 

W.  Newman,  Solomon's  Song  of  Songs,  a  new  translation,  London,  1839. 

Pye  Smith  in  his  "  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah,"  1847,  "  regards  this  Song  as  a  pas- 
toral eclogue  or  a  succession  of  eclogues  representing  in  the  vivid  color  of  Asiatic  rural  scenery 
the  honorable  loves  of  a  newly  married  bride  and  bridegroom."  This  led  to  a  controversy  be- 
tween him  and  De.  Bennett  in  the  Congregational  Magazine  for  1837  and  1838,  respecting  the 
proper  interpretation  of  the  Song.  A  subsequent  article  in  the  same  periodical  (for  1838,  p. 
471  ff.)  declares  that  there  is  ''no  more  reason  for  its  spiritual  interpretation  than  for  its  appli- 
cation to  the  revival  of  letters,  the  termination  of  feudalism,  or  any  other  gratifying  circum- 
stance in  civil  or  political  life."  Ginsbueg. 

J.  Skinnee,  An  Essay  towards  a  literal  or  true  radical  exposition  of  the  Song  of  Songa. 

Robert  Sandeman,  On  Solomon's  Song. 

W.  RoMAiNE.  Discourses  upon  Solomon's  Song. 

R.  Hawkee,  Commentary  on  Solomon's  Song. 

Meditations  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  London,  1848. 

Feancis  Baeham,  The  Song  of  Solomon. 

Adelaide  Newton,  The  Song  of  Solomon  compared  with  other  parts  of  Scripture,  1852. 

Peter  Macpheeson,  The  Song  of  Songs  shown  to  be  constructed  on  architectural  principles, 
Edinburgh,  1856.  •' His  supposition  that  this  song  consists  of  verses  written  round  an  arch- 
way, is  so  entirely  gratuitous,  that  it  is  only  misguiding  and  deceptive."     Moody  Stuart. 

Kitto  in  his  Pictorial  Bible  and  in  his  Daily  Bible  Illustrations  "  presents  much  useful  infor- 
mation on  the  Song  of  Solomon." 

Samuel  Davidson,  (The  Text  of  the  Old  Testament  Considered,  London,  1856,  and  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Old  Testament,  1862)  adopts  the  shepherd  hypothesis,  regards  it  as  a  purely  amatory 
poem,  having  neither  an  allegorical  nor  a  typical  sense,  and  written  not  by  Solomon,  but  by  a 
citizen  of  the  northern  kingdom  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  after  Solomon's  death. 

A.  Moody  Stdaet,  An  Exposition  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  London,  1857  (republished  Phila- 
delphia, 1869).  The  peculiarity  of  this  eminently  devout  and  spiritual  commentary  is  the  par- 
allel instituted  and  carried  out  in  a  most  ingenious  and  elaborate  manner  between  the  Song  of 
Solomon  and  the  Gospels  and  Acta  of  which  it  is  regarded  as  a  prophetic  epitome.  He  regards 
i.  2 — ii.  7  as  descriptive  of  the  period  immediately  before  and  after  the  birth  of  Christ ;  ii.  8 — iii. 
5  from  the  appearance  of  John  till  the  baptism  of  Jesus ;  iii.  6 — v.  1  from  Christ's  return  out  of 
the  wilderness  till  the  last  supper ;  v.  2 — viii.  5  from  the  agony  in  the  garden  till  the  evange- 
lizing of  the  Samaritans;  viii.  5-14  from  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  till  the  close  of  revelation. 

Benjamin  Weiss  (a  converted  Jew),  The  Song  of  Songs  unveiled,  a  new  translation  and  exposi- 
tion of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  Edinburgh,  1859.  He  conceives  it  to  be  "  half  historical  and  half 
prophetical,"  and  to  embrace  the  entire  interval  from  the  dedication  of  the  tabernacle  of  Moses  to 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  formation  of  churches  among  the  Gentiles. 

Christian  Ginsbueg,  The  Song  of  Songs  translated  from  the  original  Hebrew,  with  a  com- 
mentary historical  and  critical,  London,  1857,  and  in  his  article  on  Solomon's  Song  in  the  third 
Edition  of  KiTTo's  Cyclopedia,  advocates  the  shepherd  hypothesis.     "  This  song  records  the  his- 


46  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

tory  of  an  humble  but  virtuous  woman,  who  after  having  been  espoused  to  a  man  of  like  humble 
circumstances,  had  been  tempted  in  a  most  alluring  manner  to  abandon  him,  and  to  transfer  her 
affections  to  one  of  the  wisest  and  richest  of  men,  but  who  successfully  resisted  all  temptations, 
remained  faithful  to  her  espousals,  and  was  ultimately  rewarded  for  her  virtue."  The  historical 
sketch  of  the  exegesis  of  the  book  is  very  full  and  valuable,  though  warped  by  the  peculiar  views 
of  the  writer. 

Joseph  Francis  Thrupp,  The  Song  of  Songs,  a  revised  translation,  with  introduction  and 
commentary,  Cambridge,  1862,  divides  the  Song  into  six  groups  ;  see  note  on  p.  11.  "  The  theme 
of  the  first  group  is  the  anticipation  of  Christ's  coming;  the  second  represents  the  waiting  for 
that  blessed  time  ;  in  the  third  he  is  arrived,  and  we  have  there  the  description  of  the  espousal  and 
its  fruits.  The  fourth  group  delineates  the  subsequent  bodily  departure  of  the  Bridegroom  from 
his  Bride ;  the  fifth  his  spiritual  presence  with  her ;  and  the  sixth  their  complete  and  final  re- 
union." '•  The  earlier  half  of  the  Song  presents  to  us  only  those  glories  which  older  seers  had  in 
various  ways  also  heralded.  With  respect  to  the  latter  half  of  the  Song  the  case  is  different.  The 
distinctness  with  which  it  is  there  unfolded  that  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  will  not  of  itself  be 
the  final  termination  of  all  earthly  expectation  and  anxiety  is  unparalleled  not  merely  in  all 
earlier  Scripture,  but  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament.  Nowhere  else  do  we  find  a 
passage  which  speaks  as  Cant.  v.  2-8  speaks  of  a  withdrawal  of  the  Messiah  from  the  church  for 
whose  salvation  He  has  once  appeared."  This  he  accounts  for  by  supposing  it  based  on  a  typical 
application  of  the  translation  of  Elijah.  The  untimely  removal  of  this  distinguished  prophet, 
who  was  fondly  styled  "  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof,"  and  the  painful  void 
created  by  his  departure,  foreshadowed  a  similar  experience  in  the  case  of  Messiah,  the  last  and 
greatest  of  the  prophets,  who  should  in  like  manner  forsake  His  sorrowing  people  for  a  season, 
though  with  the  view  of  ultimately  returning  never  to  leave  them  more.  The  Song  he  supposes 
to  have  been  written  a  century  or  more  after  the  death  of  Solomon  by  a  member  of  one  of  the 
prophetical  schools  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes. 

Isaac  Taylor,  The  Spirit  of  the  Hebrew  Poetry ;  republished  in  New  York,  1862,  devotes  chap. 
X.  to  Solomon  and  the  Song  of  Songs. 

Chb.  Wordsworth,  The  Books  of  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Solomon  in  the  au- 
thorized version,  with  notes  and  introductions  (Vol.  IV.  Part  III.  of  his  Commentary  on  the 
Bible),  London,  1868.  He  regards  it  as  a  prophetic  allegory,  suggested  by  the  occasion  of  Solo- 
mon's marriage  with  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  descriptive  of  "  the  gathering  of  the  world  into 
mystical  union  with  Christ,  the  consecration  of  the  world  into  a  church  espoused  to  Him  as  the 
Bride." 

W.  Houghton,  Translation  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  short  explanatory  notes  (London, 
1865),  in  which,  as  stated  by  the  American  editor  of  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  the  Song 
is  viewed  as  secular  and  the  theme  conceived  to  be  the  fidelity  of  chaste  love. 

American  Commentaries. 

Of  the  discussions  of  this  book  which  have  appeared  in  this  country,  the  most  noteworthy  are 
the  following : 

Moses  Stdart,  in  his  Critical  History  and  Defence  of  the  Old  Testament  Canon  (Andovej-, 
1845),  devotes  pp.  364-385  to  a  consideration  of  the  Canticles.  He  regards  it  as  "  expressing 
the  warm  and  earnest  desire  of  the  soul  after  God  in  language  borrowed  from  that  which  charac- 
terizes chaste  affection  between  the  sexes,"  and  as  applicable  to  the  church  only  in  so  far  as  what 
pertains  to  individuals  who  are  pious  is  common  to  the  entire  body  of  believers.  He  thinks  the 
book  to  be  so  peculiarly  Oriental  in  its  imagery  and  style  of  thought,  that  while  adapted  to  the 
religious  wants  of  those  amongst  whom  it  originated,  and  probably  reserved  for  a  new  period  ol 
usefulness  in  the  East  when  Christianized,  it  is  of  inferior  value  to  occidental  Christians  generally. 

George  R.  Notes,  A  new  Translation  of  the  Proverbs.  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Canticles,  with 
introductions  and  notes,  chiefly  explanatory,  Boston,  1846.  He  conceives  the  book  to  be  a  col- 
lection of  amatory  songs  "  written  by  some  Jewish  poet,  either  in  the  reign  of  Solomon  or  soon 
after  it,"  and  without  any  "  express  moral  or  religions  design." 


J  7.    HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


Calvin  E.  Stowe,  in  the  Biblical  Repository  for  April,  1847,  gives  a  partial  translation  of 
the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  defends  its  allegorical  interpretation. 

George  Borrowes,  A  Commentary  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  Philadelphia,  1853;  also  an  ar- 
ticle on  the  Song  of  Solomon  m  the  Princeton  Review  for  October,  1849.  "  The  Song  is  a  con- 
tinuous and  coherent  whole,  illustrating  some  ol  the  most  exalted  and  delightful  exercises  of 
the  believing  heart."  He  deems  it  "  more  profitable  and  natural  in  meditating  on  this  book,  to 
view  the  bride  as  the  representative  of  the  individual  believer  rather  than  of  the  whole  church. 
As  the  church  is  a  collection  of  individuals,  its  state  must  be  that  of  the  members  composing  it ; 
and  no  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the  love  of  Jesus  for  the  collective  body  and  His  love 
for  the  several  persons  constituting  the  whole  mass."  The  illustrations  from  Oriental  manners 
and  parallel  passages  in  ancient  and  modern  literature  are  particularly  copious  and  judicious. 

Leonard  Withington,  Solomon's  Song  translated  and  explained,  Boston,  1861.  The  bride 
of  the  Song  is  the  daughter  of  an  Arab  Sheikh  (vii.  1),  whom  Solomon  married,  as  he  did  a  mul- 
titude of  other  princesses  from  the  little  tribes  around  Palestine,  with  the  "  wish  of  spreading  the 
Hebrew  empire  and  religion  through  the  vicinity.  And  he  writes  this  poem  to  show  how  pure 
his  felicity,  how  happy  his  marriage  with  a  rural  bride  taken  from  a  pagan  nation,  whom  never- 
theless he  brings  under  the  influence  of  the  true  religion,  and  hopes  to  convert  to  the  true  faith, 
and  make  one  of  the  instruments  of  promoting  the  glory  of  his  peaceful  kingdom.  But  the  oc- 
casional song  was  exalted  by  the  providence  of  God  into  a  higher  purpose.  That  purpose  was 
mainly  and  primarily  to  foreshow  the  formation  and  union  of  the  Gentile  church  with  Christ 
when  a  more  sublime  and  spiritual  religion  should  be  presented." 

A.  R.  Fatjsset  and  B.  M.  Smith,  The  Poetical  Books  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  a  critical 
and  explanatory  commentary,  Philadelphia,  1867.  Largely  based  upon  the  commentary  of 
MooDT  Stdart,  whose  divisions  and  historical  application  it  adopts. 

Metrical  Translations. 

The  metrical  translations  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  are  very  numerous.  In  addition  to  the  Latin 
paraphrases  by  A.  Johnson,  (Physician  to  Charles  I.)  and  J.  Kee  (Professor  of  Greek  in  Aber- 
deen, 1727)  commended  by  Moody  Stdart  for  their  elegance,  and  an  anonymous  English  para- 
phrase "'The  loves  of  the  Lord  with  his  troth-plight  spouse"  quoted  and  spoken  of  with  appro- 
bation by  the  same  author,  it  has  been  versified  (either  separately  or  combined  with  the  Psalms 
or  other  poetical  portions  of  the  Old  Testament),  by  William  Baldwin,  1549  ;  J.  Smith,  1575  ; 
Robert  Fletcher,  1586;  Dudley  Fenner,  1587;  Markhau,  1596;  Aruall,  1621;  A  ins- 
worth,  1623;  Sandys,  1641;  Boyd,  1644;  R.  Smith,  1653;  Hildersham,  1672;  T.  S.  (Lon- 
don) 1676 ;  Woodford,  1679  ;  Hills.  1681 ;  Lloyd,  1682  ;  Mason,  1683  ;  Reeve,  1684 ;  Bev- 
erley, 1687;  Barton,  1688;  Fleming,  1691;  Stennett,  1700;  Symson,  1701;  Ralph 
Eeskine,  1736;  Tansur,  1738;  Elizabeth  Rowe.  1739;  Bland,  1750;  Johnson,  1751; 
Gifford,  1751;  Barclay,  1767;  Ann  Francis,  1781;  Good,  1803;  Mason,  1818;  Taylor, 
1820  ;  a  late  graduate  of  Oxford,  1845  ;  Metrical  Meditations,  1856.  Another  is  announced  as 
forthcoming  by  Mr.  William  S.  Rentool,  of  Philadelphia,  to  accompany  his  edition  of  Moody 
Stuart's  commentary. 

For  Sermons  preached  on  different  passages  from  the  Song  of  Solomon,  see  Darling's  Cyclo- 
paedia Bibliographica :  Holy  Scriptures,  pp.  583-586. — Tb.] 


THJii 


SONG    OF    SOLOMON. 


TITLE: 

I.    1  THE  SONG  OF  SONGS,  WHICH  IS  BY  SOLOMON. 

FIRST    SONG. 

The  first  time  the  lovers  were  together  at  the  royal  palace  {in  or  near)  Jerusalem, 
(Chap.  I.  2— II.  7).  ^ 

FIRST    SCENE: 

Shulamith  and  the  Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

(Chap.   I.   2-8). 

Shulamith. 

2  ^Let  him  kiss  me  with  kisses^  of  his  mouth, 

%r  better  is  thy  love  than  wine ! 

3  In  fragrance  thine  unguents  are  good  ;* 

^an  ungueut^  poured  forth  is  thy  name/ 
therefore  virgins  h)ve  thee. 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

•  [Wiclipfe;  The  Church  of  the  coming  of  Christ  speaketh,  saying.  Matthews:  The  voice  of  the  Church.  CoTsft- 
T>vLE  :  0  that  thy  mouth  would  give  m.*  a  kiss,  for  tUy  breasts  are  LQure  pleasant  than  wine,  and  that  because  of  the  good 
u.iii  pleaaanl  savor. J. 

J  On  the  combination  of   the    kindred  words    pu'J    and    n"5''i!/J-      Comp.  1  Kin.  i.  12;  ii.  16;  Isa.  i.  13;  ¥iii.  lOi 

.Inn.  i.  10,  16,  nnd  ffenorally  Ewald,  Lphrhiich^  §  281  o,  [Qr.BEs's  Heb.  Gram.  §  271,  3]. 
^  [Wicliffe:  The  voice  of  tha  Futher.] 

*  lThrupp'3   proposed  emendation    D^"11£3p   'JDE^    H'T?    '*l'ke   as   the   scent  which    cometh  from  incenses,"  ia 

iiothint;  but  ingenious  trifling,  and  haa  not  even  the  merit  of  being  good  Hebrew. — Tr.J 
^    Wir.    The  voice  of  tlie  Oliurch.j 
a  Observe  the  assonance  in  TOIV  and  ^'^  which  is  probably  intentional.     [TffBOPP:  as  ointment  thou  art,  by  thy 

name,  ponred  forth.] 

'  In  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  words    1012^    pl^H    TO:!'    four  views  are  possible:  1.  Qt^  is  taken  as  the 

«ul>ject,  and  p'lin  ^  3  pers.  fem.  here  employed  because  Qii'  is  exceptionally  used  as  a  feminine  after  the  analo;j:y 
of  the  Ethiopia  (so  Ew. :  "thy  name  is  poured  oat  as  an  ointment;"  Vaih.:  "as  th"  frngrancn  of  balsam  thy  namn 
pours  itself  forth,"  etc.)  2.  TOi!/  is  regarded  as  the  subject,  which  is  herj  exceptiona.ly  treated  as  feminine,  and  (■< 
which  pT^n  helongs  as  a  relative  clause;  "an  unguent,  which  is  shed  forth,  is  thy  name"  (so  the  Septuag.,  Vulg., 
I.UTa.  and  the  generality  of  interpreters).  3.  TDti-*  is  taken  as  a  masc  ,  but  the  form  p'l-'P  i-*  regarded  aa  a  hardened 
firm  for  p*1V  (after  the  analogy  of  Isa.  xliv.  28;  Eccles.  x.  1.5).  an  i  accordingly  tr.inslated  as  before  (Hitzio). 
*■  p'H^n    's    held  to  be  the  2  pera.  sm'z..  fut.  Hophal  with  a  double  accusative  :    "  thou  art  poured  forth  in  respect  to 

tliy  name  as  ointment,"  i.^.,  thou,  or  more  preci-^ely  thv  nnme,  diffnsest  a  noble  fragrance,  like  a  box  of  ointment 
wliich  is  emptied  of  its  contente  (so  J.  11.  Michaelis  :  '■  sicut  oe.un  effwuleris  nnniin'.  ttw;"'  Hengstenb.,  AVeissb.). 
This  last  construction  ie  tu  be  preferred  aa  grammatically  the  best  established,  while  it  agrees  in  sense  substantialtr 
with   Nob.  2  and  3. 

:3  49 


60  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  1.  1— 11.  7. 

Shulamith  and  the  Daughters  of  Jerusalem  (in  responsive  song). 

4  Draw  me ! — after  thee  will  we  run  !— ' 

^The  king  has  brought  me  into  his  chambers  I ' 
We  will  exult  and  be  glad  in  thee, 
will  commend'  thy  love  beyond  wine ! — 
Rightly*  do  they  love  thee ! 

Shulamith. 

5  'Black  I  am,  but  'comely,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

as  the  tents  of  Kedar,  as  the  tent-cloths  of  Solomon 

6  Look"  not  at  me,  because'  I  am  dusky,'" 

because  the  sun  has  scorched"  me  ; 
"my  mother's  sons  were  angry"  with  me, 
made  me  keeper  of  the  vineyards  ; — 
mine  own  vineyard  I  have  not  kept." 

{Looking  around  for  Solomori). 

7  '^Tell  me,  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth,  where'^  feedest  thou  ? 

where  makest  thou  (thy  flock)  to  recline  at  noon  ? 
For"  why  should  I  be  as  one  straying" 
by  the  flocks  of  thy  companions  ? 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

8  "If  thou  know  not,"  fairest  among  women, 

go  forth  in  the  footprints  of  the  flock 

and  feed  thy  kids  beside  the  shepherds'  tents. 

1  [Matt.  Tea,  that  same  moveth  me  also  to  run  after  thee.] 

'  IM-ATT.  Tho  spouai'SS  to  her  conipaiiions] 

3  [Cov.,  Cra.nmcr,  Bisaops  :  "  privy  c:iariilier ;"  Dowat  :  "  cellars,"  altered  in  later  editions  to  "store-rooms.'M 

*  Upon    "T3tn   prop.  "  to  meutioQ,  bring  to  remembrance,"    then    "  to   raeation    with    praise,  celebrate,"  comp. 

Ps.  IX.  8;  Isa.  ilviii.  1;  Ixiii.  7;  also  Ps.  xiv.  18;  1  Chron.  xvi.  4,  where  it  is  parallel  to  mlH  thank^  praise. 

T 

s  rCov.  Well  is  th-m  that  love  thee.     Exo.  Ver.  The  upright,  Marg.  uprightly.     Notes,  Borrowes:  sincerely.] 

6  [SVlc.    Tho  Cliiirch,  ot  her  tribulations.     Mat.  The  voicn  of  the  Church  in  persecution.     Cov.,  Cran.  I  am  black, 

(0  ye  (Jauiihters  of  .Terusalem)  like  a.s  the  tents  of  the  Ceitarenes  and  as  the  hangings  of  Solomon;  but  yot  I  am  f.*ir 

and  well-favored  witlial.    Gi.nsbuko:  swarthy.] 
^  [Withinoton;  fair;  Bcrrowes:  lovely.] 

8  [Cov.   marvel;  Dow.AT :  consider;  Williams,  Notes:  gaze;  With,  scorn;  Ginsburg  :  disdain.] 
»  ty   signifies  in   both  instances,  in  ""JX^  and  in  ^jniJlL^iy  not  "for,"   but  '-for  the  reason  that,"  "because" 

(eis  exeti-o  on) ;  comp.  Ex.  ii.  2.  The  second  clause  is  therefore  co-ordinated  with  the  first,  although  explanatory  of 
it  (comp.  WeiiSB.  in  loc.; 

10  [Cov. :   so  black.     E.  Ver.   black;   Dowat  :    brown;    Weiss:   swarthy;    BoR.,   Theopp:   dark.]    On    n^mnt? 

blackish,  dusky  fnnt  "  very  black  deep  black,"  as  Uitz.  and  formerly  Ewald  too  would  have  it),  comp.  on  ver.  5 
above  [iJreen's  H.'.b,  Gran ,  §  188]. 

11  n;!y  is  not  "look  upon"  [so  E.  V. ;  Cov.   shiued;  Will,    beamed;     Thrijpp  :  fiercely  scanned;  Weiss:    glanced) 

(Septaag.  jrape'^Aeifie,  comp.  Job  XX.  9),  but  is  here=nnty  (Gen.  xli.  23)  "scorch,  blacken,"  the  sense  already  expressed 

liy  Aqcila  (aivtKavri  (Le)  and  the  Vnlg.  (d'ci'tornvit  me)  [Good:  discolored;  Bob.,  Gins,  browned],  and  retained  by 
moat  of  tliL-  recent  interpreters  (in  oppi)sitiou   to  Rjse\m.,  Uenqstevb.,  Weissb.). 

12  [Mat.  Tile  voI'm-  or'  the  Svnagoi;ue.] 

"  ?"inj   either  Niph.   of  Tin  '"  O'Jrn,  g!om,  (so  Ew.,  Meier,  IIitz.),  or  more  probably  from  HITI    (so  that  the 

sing,  would  be  mn]  or  Hlnj);  for  tho  Niph.  of  "nn  always  elsewhere  means  "to  be  dried,  parched"  (Ps.  Ixix. 
4;  cii.  4,  etc.),  whilsD  Ihe  meaning  demanded  here  is  "to  be  angry,  wroth."  Comp.  asSEmos'  Lexicon  and  Weissb.  in 
loc.     [Civ.:  had  evil   will.] 

1*  I C  »v.  :    rhtis  WIS  I  fain  to  keep  a  vinevaTd,  which  w.os  not  mine  own.] 

15  (Wic,  MlT.    The  voice  of -the  Chur.h  to  Clirist.] 

'°  riD'S   elsewhere  /lowf  [which  Weis'.  retains]  is  here=ni3'X    wheref  so  too  2  Kin.  vi.  13,  K'thibh,  whilst    the 

Kri  has^O-N. 

"  rrobu'  properly  "for  why"  (comp.  H'sS    ItyS,  Dan.  i.  10),  a  fuller  exoression  for  the  simple   n"37  '"hi/,  as 

T  T  -  T  T         V  -:  T  T 

in  Job  xxxiv.  27,  t3"7;T   IK?**  stands  for   \3'1}?.  Ps.  ilv.  3.     The  sense  is  correctly  given  by  the  Sept.  and  Syr., 

which  here  and  in  Dan.  i.  10  translate  "that  not,  lest"  j,i>/nor«).     [Coy.:  and  that.    Tho  critical  coiyeclure  menticned 

by  Williams,  that  this  word  should  be  pointed  as  a  proper  name  fl""?!^    O  Silomin  is  unworthy  of  attention.— Te.I 

'8  [Wic.  go  vagrant;  Cot.  lest  T  go  wrong  and  come  unto  the  flocks  of  thy  companions;  B.  Ver.  one  (Gen'.v. 
Bhei  that  inrneth  aside;  Good,  PtRCV.  Clarke:  waiilerer;  Williams.  Frt  :  stranger;  Taylor:  rover;  Ginsb.  ;  roaming; 
B.  Ver.  Marg.  one  that  is  veiled,  so  Notes,  Wi-'Iss.,  Taaopp.] 

"  [Wic,  Mat.    The  voic»  of  Christ  to  the  C  lUrch.J 

20  'iS  is  here  added  inasmuch  as  the  urtion  returns  upon  its  subject  (comp.  Prov.  ix.  12;  and  ii.  6;  viii.  14  below); 

•O  In  general  EwiLD,  L'hrb.  J  315  a  [OaEIS's  tTeb.  Chrtst.  note  on  Isa.  xl.  9.] 


I.  1— II.  7.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  CI 


SECOND    SCENE: 

Solomon  and  Shulamith. 

(Chap.  I.  9— II.  7). 
Solomon. 

9  To  my  horse'  in  Pharaoh's  chariots 
I  liken'  thee,  my  dear.' 

10  Comely  are  thy  cheeks  with  chains,* 
thy  neck  with  beads.*^ 

11  Chains^  of  gold  will  we  make  thee 
with  poiats'  of  silver. 

Shulamith. 

12  ^Whilst  the  king  is  at  his  table,' 
my  spikenard  yields  its  fragrance. 

13  A  bundle"*  of  myrrh  is  my  beloved"  to  me, 
that  lodges  between  my  breasts. 

14  A  cluster  of  the  cyprus-flower"  is  my  beloved  to  me, 
in  the  vineyards  of  Engedi. 

Solomon. 

15  "Lo !  thou  art  fair,  my  dear, 
lo  !  thou  art  fair ;  thine  eyes  are  doves. 

Shulamith. 

16  "Lo !  thou  art  fair,  my  beloved,  yea  sweet; 
yea  our  couch  is  green.'^ 

17  The  beams'"  of  our  houses  are  cedars, 
our  wainscot"  is  cypresses." 

IL  1.  "I  am  (only)  a  wildflower  of  Sharon, 
a  lily  of  the  valleys. 

Solomon. 
2  As  a  lily  among  thorns, 

so  is  my  dear  among  the  daughters. 

'  [Wio.    my  ridins:    Gsnev.    troop  (E.  V.  company)  of  horsei;  Will.:  the  horse;  NOTES;  th«  Dorsee:  Qins.  :  mj 

[Cov.    There  Will  I  tarry  tor  thee,  my  love,  witli  mine  host  and   with  my  chariots,  which  ehall  be  no  fewer  thfin 
Pharaoh's  ] 

3  Theplur.  nVJ?^   [rather  nVJ^T— Tk]    JuJg.  xi.  37  K'lhibh.     [E.  Veb.  my  love,  Marg.  in  ver.  15:  companion: 

Will.:  consort;  Fry:  partner.] 

*  [Uenev.  rows  0/  itAiuts;  E.  Ver.  row^o/Jtwels;  Fry;  jewels;  With,  chains;  Thrupp,  Ginsb.  ;  circlet;  WxlSfs.: 
reins.] 

6  [Genev.  chains;  E.  Ver.  chains  of  gold ;  Dow.iY ;  jewels;  Fry:  strings  of  beads;  Good.  Bdrrowes:  strings  of 
pearls:  Thropp,  With.,  <Jin?b.  m.-irklace;  Weiss.:  chains,  i.  e.,  snch  as  are  attached  to  the  polo  or  beam  of  the  carriage, 
.lud  which  the  horse  we  trs  on  lii-i  necli.] 

*  [In  atliiitioo  to  ttio  reudeimifs  ^'iven  to  this  word  in  the  preceding  verse,  Wic.  here  translates  it :  ribands;  Cov. 
Deck-band;  E.  Ver.    borders;  With,  culiars.] 

'  [Gov.  buttons;   E.  Ver.  studs;  With,  stars.] 

8  I  Wic.  The  voice  of  tbt?  Ciiu  cii,  of  Christ.    Mat.  The  voice  of  the  Church.] 

9  [So  Oov.,  Exa.  Ver.;  Genev.  repast;  Doway  :  repo-e,  alter  the  V  clo.  acc«6i(u  and  the  LXX  avtucMfftt.;  Good: 
banquet;  Fry:  '  the  king  in  his  circ  lit '  ni:iy  either  reft-r  to  his  go  n;^  round  in  some  ptrt  of  the  procession,  or  to  taking  his 
Stan  1  in  the  midst  of  his  retiuue,  or  we  m  ly  translate,  'until  the  king  'jad  takeu  his  seat;'  Will.,  Burr,  circle  of  friends  ; 
Weiss.:  with  iiis  guest.] 

10  [AlVHW.:  bag;  Taylor:  scent-bair;  GioD :  ca-ket;  Burrowes  :  amulet.] 

"  [Oov  O  my  OeloveJ.  E.  Ver.  my  well-beloved,  so  consuutly  throughout  the  book  in  Genev.,  except  once  ia 
V.  9,  "  lover."] 

"  [So  Cov  ,  Dow AY,  E.  Ver.  Marg.     The  text  of  the  Eng.  Ver.  has  caraphire.] 

13    Wic,  M\t.  The  vice  of  Christ  to  the  Church.] 

'*  [Wic,  M\T-  The  voice  i,f  the  Church  to  Christ.] 

16    Gov..  Cran.,  BlsH.  Our  bed  is  decked  with  flowers.     Dow  :  our  little  bed  is  tiourishing.] 

ifi    Cov.    ceilings.] 

"  Cov.  balks;  Cran..  Bish.  cross-joints ;  E.  V.:  rafters,  ^larg.:  galleries;  Good,  Notes,  Fry:  roof;  Thbupp; 
boardings:  Parkhurst:  'eiiing;  Gesen.  :  carved  ceiling;  Fuerst:  carved  beams]. 

IS  ft;.  Ver.  tir;  .ai.ns.    bruiin-tree.] 

I'J  [Wic  The  voice  of  Christ,  of  Hi.u  and  of  the  Church;  M\T.    The  voice  of  Christ.] 


8t«ed.] 


5? 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


L   1— II   T 


Shulamith. 

3  'As  an  apple-tree  among  the  trees  of  the  wood, 

80  is  my  beloved  among  the  sons. 

In  hia  shade  delighted  I  sit. 

and  his  fruit  is  sweet  to  my  palate.' 

4  He  has  brought  me  into  the  wine-house, 

and  his  banner  over  me  is  love. 

5  Stay  me  with  pressed  grapes,^ 

refresh*  me  with  apples, 
for  I  am  sick  of  lnve. 

6  His  left  hand  is  under  my  head, 

and  his  right  embraces  me. 

7  *I  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

by  the  gazelles  or  by  the  hinds  of  the  field," 
that  ye  wake  not,  and  that  ye  waken  not 
love  till  it'  please. 

'  [Wic,  Mat.  The  Toice  of  the  Church,  of  Chr'af.] 

■*  [Cov.,  Cr.A.v.,  li  se..   Dow.  throit;  (.i.:vEV.  in<>iith;   E.  V.  taste]. 

•*  jiJjV.  grapes;  Cb.\n  ,  BiSH.  cup:*;  tjEVEV..  K.  \'.  ti.igoasl. 

*  [£.  V.  r.onifupt;  M  irg.  atr-ikV  inw;    DjwvY,  comiJ.a^i   me  about;  .\lN'SwoaTH  :    strew   lue  a  bed;    Williams  ; 
riToii.<  iirouiiii  me;  Thrupp:  strew  me  with  citron  1  uves]. 

-'  [^Vic.  Mat.     The  voice  of  Christ,    of   the  Chur.'h;    Wlc,    Dow.    I  adjure  you;    Gov.,  Cran.,    Gekev.,  B. 
charge  .vou.] 

*  [Tbrdpp  has;  "fells,"  so  as  to  rhyme  with  "  gazelles,"  in  fancied  imitation  of  the  original]. 
'  [Cov.,  Dow.,  Gknev.  she ;  B.  V.  correctly :  he;  Ui.**sb.,  Thrdpp:  itj. 


EXEGETICAL    AND    CRITICAL. 

1.  For  the  explanation  of  the  title,  see  the  In- 
troduction, ^  1  and  §  3.  To  the  view  of  those 
who  asjign  vers.  2-4  entirely  to  the  "  dauglitcrs 
of  .Jeriisalem,"  and  suppose  the  words  of  Shuha- 
lEiith  to  begin  with  ver.  .5  (Hitz.,  V.^ih.  and 
others,  so  too  Del  )  staudsopposed — I.  Tliat  tlie 
wi.sh  "to  be  kissed  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth" 
could  scarcely  have  been  expressed  by  the  ladies 
of  tlie  court,  or  even  by  one  of  them,  without 
lining  Shuiamith  with  indignation,  of  which, 
however,  she  shows  nothing  in  what  follows. 
2.  That  the  way  in  which  the  lover  is  extolled  in 
vers.  2,  3,  agrees  perfectly  with  the  fond  en- 
comiums and  enlhusiastic  descriptions  which 
Shulamith  subsequently,  i.  13,  if.,  and  ii.  3,  if., 
bestows  upon  her  lover.  3.  That  the  interchange 
of  the  1st  sing,  and  the  1st  plur.  plainly  points 
to  a  diversity  of  persons  speaking,  or  to  an 
alternation  between  a  single  speaker  and  a 
wliole  chorus.  This  latter  circumstance  likewise 
renders  their  assumption  impossible,  wlio  (as 
Ew.,  Hengstenb.,  Weissb.  and  most  of  the  older 
interpreters)  suppose  that  the  whole  of  vers.  2-7 
is  spoken  by  Shulamith.  Undoubtedly  Shulamith 
and  the  ladies  of  the  court  here  respond  to  each 
other  in  speech  or  song  ;  yet  not  so  that  only 
the  words  *'  Draw  me  after  thee  .  .  .  chambers  " 
ver.  4  a  belong  to  Shulamith,  and  all  the  rest  to 
ver.  5  to  the  "  women  of  the  harem"  (so  Renan), 
but  simply  that  all  that  is  in  the  singular  is  to 
be  regarded  as  spoken  by  her  alone,  and  all  that 
iB  in  the  plural  by  her  and  the  ladies  together, 
so   that   in   particular   HXllJ  (we  will  run)  and 

1J1  717' JJ  (we  will  be  glad,  etc.)  are  to  be  assigned 
to  the  ladies  who  confirm  the  words  of  Shula- 
mith l)y  joining  in  them  themselves,  while  'JDtyo 

ynnx  (draw  me  after  thee),  Vnn  "jSon  "JN'^H 
(the  king  has  brought  me  into  his  chambers)  and 


■jUnX  D'^tya  (they  rightly  love  thee)  belong  to 
Shulamith  alone*  (comp.  Dopke  in  loc.)  Then 
vers.  5-7  unquestionably  belong  to  Shulamith 
alone  ;  ver.  8  again  to  the  ladies  of  the  court,  who 
reply  with  good-humored  banter  to  the  rustic  sini- 
])licity  and  7i«((V/e  with  which  she  has  expressed 
ver.  7  her  desire  for  her  royal  lover;  vers.  9,  tf. 
to  Solomon,  who  now  begins  a  loving  conversation 
with  his  beloved,  reaching  to  the  close  of  the  act.f 
During  this  familiar  and  cosy  chat,  which  forms 
the  second  scene  of  the  act,  the  chorus  of  ladies 
withdraws  to  the  back-ground,  but  without 
leaving  the  stage  entirely;  for  the  concluding 
words  of  Shulamith  ii.  7  are  manifestly  directed 
to  them  again,  and  that  not  as  absent,  but  as 
present  on  the  stage.  The  place  of  the  action 
must  be  supposed  to  be  some  locality  in  llie 
royal  palace  or  residence  in  or  near  Jerusalem, 

some  one  of  the  "king's  chambers''  (l^on  '"nri) 
ver.  4;  whether  precisely  the  "room  devoted  to 
wine  parties,"  the  "  wine-room  of  tlie  royal 
palace"  (Del.),  cannot,  as  it  seems,  be  certainly 
determined  from  the  repeated  reference  to  the 
excellence  of  wine  (i.  2,  4),  nor  from  the  men- 
tion of   the   "house  of    wiue''  (["n    jT3  ii.  4); 

*  [So  Patrick,  Good,  Wii.i.iam.s.  Taylor,  Fry,  the  la.st  two  of 
whom  divide  ver.  5  in  like  manner,  assigning  the  words  "  but 
comely,"  and  "  as  the  curtains  of  Solomon  "  to  the  dauglitem 
of  .Jerusalem,  who  compliment  the  bride  on  herlieauty,  while 

I  she  in  the  remaining  clauses  speaks  depreciatingly  (tf  herself; 

i  Taylor  also  apportions  vers.  ;i.  3  between  the  bride  and  her 
attendant  ladies,  to  whom  Fry  adds  an  imaginary  messenger 
frcm  the  king.     Harmer  carries  the  sulKdivisiou  of  parts  t^* 

;  an  equal  extent,  claiming  that  not  only  the  variation  in  num- 
ber, but  the  change  of  person  from  third  to  second,  and  vice 
vf.rsa,  indicates  a  diversity  of  speakers.  The  miyority  of  Eng- 
lish Commentators  regard  the  Iiride  ap  the  sole  speaker  in  ver. 
■2,  as  is  done  also  in  the  headings  to  this  chapter  in  the  author- 
ized version,  and  either  find  in  the  change  of  number  evi- 
tlence  of  the  plurality  involved  in  the  unity  of  the  speaker, 
(Poole,  Thrupp),  or  suppose  that  phe  in  thought  aiwociat^-a 
her  companions  with  herself,  we,  t.  f..  "  I  Hiid  the  virgins  fore- 
mentioned"  f.\ixswoRTH),  or  that  it  is  the  language  of  mod- 
esty, tliough  she  means  only  herself  (Clarke)]. 

t  [Patrick.  Scott  and  Ta'vlor  suppose  it  interrupted  by  t!ii 
attendant  ladies  in  ver.  111. 


J.  l-II. 


THl  30NG  OF  SOLOMON. 


53 


ftnd  even  the  "  table "  of  the  king  spoken  of 
i.  12  does  not  afford  a  perfectly  sure  support  to 
this  opinion.  Only  it  appears  to  be  certain 
from  i.  li),  17  that  we  must  imagine  the  scene  to 
be  open  outwards,  and  to  afford  a  prospect  of 
fresh  verdure  and  stately  trees,  such  as  cedars, 
cypresses,  etc.  It  must  therefore  have  been 
either  a  room  in  the  king's  p.ilace  upon  Zion 
immediately  adjacent  to  parks  or  gardens,  or 
what  in  view  of  vi.  2.  3  (comp.  iv.  10)  is  still 
more  probable,  an  open  summer-house  (or  pavil- 
ion) in  the  royal  pleasure  gardens  of  Wady 
Urtas,  south  of  Jerusalem,  near  Botlileliem  and 
Etam,  in  those  magnificent  grounds  of  David's 
splendor-loving  son,  wliich  probably  bordered 
upon  Zion  itself,  and  theace  extended  southward 
for  several  leagues,  and  of  which  there  still  re- 
mains at  least  a  grand  aqueduct,  with  three 
b  tsins  lying  successively  one  above  another,  the 
so-called  "pools  of  Solomon"  (comp.  K.  Furbeb, 
Wand^rungen  durck  Faldstina^  Zlirich,  1806,  p. 
178,  etc.  ;  C.  Heeut,  Paldslina,  p.  278,  etc.  ; 
EwALD,  Geschickte  des  Volkes  Israel,  III.  1,  p.  64, 
etc.).  That  Shiilamith  had  formed  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  royal  gardens  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Jerusalem  directly  after  she 
liad  been  brought  from  her  home  in  the  north 
of  Israel  to  Solomon's  court,  is  shown  by  her 
mention  i.  14  of  the  "vineyards"  or  "vine- 
gardens  of  Eiigedi,"  near  the  Dead  Sea,  five  or 
six  German  miles  south-east  of  Jerusalem,  from 
which  however  the  conclusion  must  not  be 
drawn  that  these  pleasure-grounds  of  EngeJi 
formed  the  scene  of  the  action  in  the  opening 
of  the  piece;  see  on  that  verse.  Weissbach 
very  properly  locates  the  second  scene  of  the 
Song  from  i.  9  onward  in  the  gardens  of  Solo- 
mon near  Jerusalem,  bat  puts  the  action  of  vers. 
1-8  somewhere  on  the  way  to  this  retreat,  where 
Sbulamith  in  her  search  for  her  lover  chances  to 
meet  the  women  of  Jerusalem.  But  in  opposi- 
tion to  this  may  be  urged — 1.  That  there  is 
nothing  in  the  context  to  indicate  a  change  in 
the  locality  between  vers.  8  and  9.  2.  The  men- 
tion of  the  "king's  chambers"  in  ver.  4  cer- 
tainly implies  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a  royal 
pal.ace,  and  probably  the  presence  of  the  speaker 
in  it.  3.  It  by  no  means  follows  from  the  meta- 
phors borrowed  from  pastoral  life,  in  which  Sbula- 
mith speaks  of  her  lover,  ver.  7,  that  she  thought 
he  was  really  to  be  found  in  a  "  pasture  ground," 
and  engaged  in  feeding  sheep.  4.  With  as  little 
propriety  can  it  be  inferred  from  ver.  8  that  Sbu- 
lamith is  represented  as  wandering  about  over  the 
country  and  "accompanied  by  some  little  kids, 
searching  for  her  lover  in  or  near  Jerusalem."  * 
2.  First  Scene.  Shulamith.  Vers.  2,  3. — Let 
him  kiss  me  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth. 
— ''JPtS'''. — for  which  Htxzio  needlessly  reads 
"JpB'^i   "let  him   give  me  to  drink,"  etc.  (comp. 

*  [Taylor  and  Williams  malie  the  place  to  have  been  the 
hride'8  parlor  in  Solomon's  palace,  and  the  time  the  first  day 
of  the  week  preceding  the  marriage,  i.  1-8  belonging  to  the 
morning,  and  1.  9 — ii.  7  to  the  evening  of  the  day.  BcR- 
ROWES  follows  Harmer  in  the  conjecture  that  "  in  the  open- 
ing scene  of  this  poem  the  king  had  probably  gone  forth,  ac- 
cording to  Oriental  customs,  to  meet  the  bride,  and  was 
awaiting  her  with  his  princely  retinue  in  an  encampment 
where  his  rich  pavilion,  ver.  6.  stood  pre-eminent.  The  spouse 
on  coming  in  eight  of  those  kingly  tents,  gives  utterance  to 
the  s*»"ong  emotions  of  her  heart]." 


viii.  2) — is  manifestly  the  utterance  of  a  wish, 
"0  that  he  would  kiss  me;"  and  its  subject  is 
not  'i7\'ii,  "his  mouth,"  which  is  too  remote  and 
manifestly  stands  in  a  genitive  relation  lo  mp''E>J 
"kisses;"  nor  nip^D^O,  equivalent  to  "one  ot 
his  kisses"  (Ewald,  E.  Meieti),  for  "a  ki^s 
kisses  not  but  is  kissed,  and  j"i1p'n3"2  includes  :ia 
accusative"  (Hitzig).  The  speaker's  lover  is 
rather  thought  of  as  the  kissing  subject,  the 
same,  whom  in  the  vividness  of  her  conception 
she  immediately  afterwards  in  b  and  in  ver,  3 
addresses  in  the  second  person,  as  though  he  who 
is  so  ardently  longed  for  were  already  present.* 
The  partitive  jp  properly  points  to  but  one  or  a 
few  kisses  of  her  lover  as  the  object  of  the  be- 
loved's wish;  comp.  Geu.  xxviii.  II;  Ex.  xvi. 
27;  Ps.  cxxxii.  II,  and  generally  Ew.,  Lehr., 
I  217,  b,  294,  c.  [Green's  lleb.  Gram.,  ^  24'2,  a]  ; 
J.  H.  MiCH.^ELis,  in  he  ,  "  una  tantnm  vet  altero  dt 
oscuUk." — "Kisses  of  his  mouth  "f  are,  moreover, 
in  contrast  with  the  idolatrous  custom  of  hand- 
kisses,  or  kissing  the  hand  to  any  one  (Job  xxxi. 
27;  comp.  Del.,  in  loc),  tokens  of  honest  love 
and  affection  between  blood  relations  and  friends 
(Gen.  xxix.  II  ;  xxxiii.  4 ;  xli.  40  ;  1  Sam.  x.  I  ; 
XX.  41 ;  comp.  Ps.  ii.  12),  and  especially  between 
lovers  (Prov.  vii.  13).  It  is  not  likely  that  the 
similarity  of  the  words  ptyj  kiss  and  Hpt!'  drink 
gave  occasion  to  the  comparison  in  b  of  caresses 
with  wine  (Weissb.);  this  comparison  is  of  itself 
a  very  natural  one  ;  comp.  iv.  10;  v.  1  ;  viii.  2. — 
For  better  is  thy  love  than  -wine. — D"'^T 
different  from  D^'IT  "breasts,  paps"  (whicli 
the  LXX  here  express  by  fiaaroi,  and  the  Vulg. 
by  ubera  [so  Wic,  Gov.,  Dow.]),  as  well  as  from 
0"in  plur.  of  in  "beloved"  (v.  1), denotes  ma- 
nifestations of  love,  caresses,  (l>i?u)^pncji'vai  (comp. 
iv.  10,  II;  vii.  13;  Prov.  vii.  18;  Ezek.  xvi.  h; 
xxiii.  17),  i.  e.,  dalliance,  exhibition  of  H^nx 
(vii.  7;  viii.  6),  fond  endearments,  (in  bad  taste 
Vaih.,  "J^ifieZei,"  flirtation. )  In  thecomparisonof 
such  love  with  wine,  the  tertium  comparationis  is,  .-is 
is  shown  by  the  parallels  iv.  10,  ff.;  v.  I;  vii.  9,  fT. 
not  the  intoxicating  power  of  wine,  but  primarily 
its  sweetness  J  ouly  ;  comp.  Acfsii.  13.  The  figure 
of  intoxication  indicates  a  higher  grade  of  loving 
ecstasy  than  is  here  intended,  comp.  v.  lb;  Prov. 
v.  19;  vii.  18,  and  in  general  Weissb..  in  loc. 
Ver.  3.  In  fragrance  thine  unguents  are 

good. — n'^7.  "  in  respect  to  odor,  as  to  fra- 
grance,"' limits  DOID,  "good  "  (comp.  Josh.  xxii. 
10;  1  Kings  X.  23;  Job  xxxii.  4),  and  is  emphati- 
cally placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence. 
Commonly  :  "  to  the  smell,"  or  "  for  the  smell," 
against  which,  however,  lies  the  twofold  objec- 
tion :  I,  that  n'"]!  denotes  not  the  organ  of  smell, 
nor  the  act  of  smelling,  but  the  odor  which  any 


*  [Patrick.  As  in  John  XX.  15  "  the  pronoun  is  used  with- 
out a  consciousness  of  the  absence  of  the  antecedent.  Her 
heart  is  so  full  that  she  supposes  every  one  must  know  wtm 
she  means  by  /tim]." 

t  (  "  Permission  to  kiss  the  hand  of  a  sovereign  is  considered 
an  honor;  but  for  that  sovereign  to  give  another  the  kiBSes 
of  his  mouth,  is  evidence  of  the  tenderest  affection,  and  is  the 
highest  possible  honor." — Bcrrowes.] 

j  [  "  Thy  love  is  more  reviving  and  exhilarating  than  the  ef- 
fects of  wine.    Comp.  Ps.  civ.  \o ;  Prov.  xxxi.  ti." — Burkowkk^ 


64 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II.  7. 


thing  exhales  {odor,  halitut),  comp.  i.  12  ;  U.  13 ; 
i».   10;  vii.    14;   Hos.   xit.  7,   «<c.  ;  2,   it  is   not 

n'"l^,  but  simply  n'^'?-  Hitzig's  construction  is 
quite  too  artificial;  he  connects  3  a  with  2  A  as 
its  sublimilation,  and  translates  "  thy  caresses 
are  more  precious  than  wine  with  the  odor  of  thy 
precious  ointment  "  (comp.  the  like  mode  of  con- 
nection adopted  in  the  Vulg.,  "  ubera^ragantia 
unguentis  optimis"  [so  Coveruale,  DowayJ).  So 
also  is  that  of  Weissbach,  '•  thy  ointments  are 
good  to  serve  as  a  perfume,"    where  too  much  is 

evidently  foisted  into  the  simple  tl'^S.* — An  un- 
guent -which  is  poured  forth  is  thy  name. 

— The  comparison  of  a  good  name  with  a  fragrant 
unguent  is  also  found,  and  ou  the  basis  of  this 
passage  in  Hos.  xiv.  7,  8 ;  Eccles.  vii.  1 ;  Ecclus. 
xlix.  1.  The  ideas  of  smelling  and  being  (or  be- 
ino-  named,  bearing  this  or  that  name)  are,  as  a 
general  fact,  closely  related  through  the  interme- 
diate notion  of  breathing,  respiring  ;  comp.  in 
German  "  Geriichl,  ruchbar."f  That  the  name 
of  the  lover  is  thus  compared  to  a  costly 
perfume  diffusing  a  wide  fragrance  (comp. 
Mark  xiv.  3;  John  xii.  3)  plainly  indicates 
that  it  is  only  the  renowned  King  Solomon, 
an  actual  possessor  of  UV  (name,  i.  «.,  fame, 
gloria — comp.  Prov.  xxii.  1;  1  Kings  i.  47;  Job 
XXX.  3),  wlio  can  be  thought  of  as  this  lover,  and 
not  a  simple  country  swain  (so  Weissb.  properly 
against  Heed.,  Umbr.,  e?c.).— Therefore  vir- 
gins love  thee — i.  e.,  not  barely  on  account  of 
this  thy  renown,  but  on  account  of  all  the  excel- 
lencies   celebrated    in  ver.   2,  3.     Observe    that 

mO^l^  is  without  the  article.  It  is  not  the  virgins 
universally,  but  simply  virgins,  such  as  Shula- 
uiith  herself,  or  the  "daughters  of  Jerusalem," 
the  ladies  of  Solomon's  court,  by  whom  she  sees 
herself  surrounded,  that  she  describes  as  lovers, 
as  reverential  admirers  of  the  graceful,  brilliant 
and  lovely  king.  The  guileless  country  lass,  who 
has  but  recently  been  transferred  into  the  circle 
of  the  countless  virgins  of  the  royal  court  (comp 
vi.  8)  here  accounts  to  herself  for  the  fact  that 
many  other  virgins  besides  her  are  attached  to  the 
king  with  admiring  devotion  and  love  ;  comp.,  4.  e. 

3.  Shulamith  and  the  daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

Ver.  4.  Drav7  me  after  thee — as  it  is  to  be 
translated  with  theTAuo.,  Luth.  and  most  of  the 
recent  expositors,  connecting  contrary  to  the 
common  accentuation  T'l.ns?  ^''^^^  'A^.^'^i  which 
requires  it  as  its  proper  complement ;  J  comp.  Hos. 

*  [  Weiss.:  Besides  or  in  addition  to  the  savor,  f.ti:.  A  sense 
wliich  the  prep,  rarely  lia.s,  and  wtiich  is  neither  admissible 
here  nor  in  Ex.  xiv.  ^8  ;  Lev.  xi.  2(i ;  xvi.  16,  to  which  he  ap- 
peals. Incorrectly  also  the  Eng.  Ver. ;  Because  of  the  savor, 
<:<^.,  which  most  then  be  connected  with  "therefore,"  etc.,  in 
tlio  last  clause,  the  second  clause  being  parenthetic.  "  Slie 
ha.s  ointments  preparatory  to  her  exaltation ;  just  as  Esther 
was  puriaed  to  go  in  to  the  king,  Esth.  ii.  12."— Withington]. 

trOomt).  Eng.  'To  be  in  good  or  bud  odor'  for  good  or  ill  re- 
pute. This  explanation  of  the  relation  of  these  ideas,  which  is 
lieveloped  at  length  by  Bakfir.  SymboUk  d.  Max.  Cutlits,  I.,  p. 
4,'',i>  ff.,  appears  to  be  too  subtle  and  remote.  It  is  simpler  to 
find  the  connection  in  the  fact  that  the  odor,  like  the  name, 
indicates  the  character  or  quality  of  that  from  which  it  priv 
ceeds,  or  to  which  it  belongs.  It  is  an  efflux  from  the  object 
itself,  the  impression  which  it  makes  ad  extra. — Tn.] 

i  [  There  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  for  departing  from 
the  authority  of  the  accents  in  the  present  instance.  "  We 
will  run  "  requires  "  after  thee  "  as  ita  complement  to  indicate 


xi.  4;  Jer.  xxxi.  3.  By  this  drawing  is  meant, 
as  appears  from  b,  a  drawing  into  the  king'a 
chambers,  or  at  least  into  immediate  proximity 
to  him,  not  a  conducting  out  of  the  palace  into 
the  country,  as  the  advocates  of  the  swain-hypo- 
thesis suppose,  who  see  in  these  words  an  ardent 
call  upon  her  distant  lovei-. — TATe  w^ill  run — 
i.  e.,  not,  "let  us  take  flight,  and  hasten  hence" 
[so  GiNSBUEG  :  "  Oh,  let  us  flee  together  !"],  as 
though  here  again  there  were  a  cry  for  help  to 
her  absent  lover ;  but :  "  we  will  hasten  to  him," 
viz.:  the  gracious  king;  a  lively  exclamation  ut- 
tered by  Shulamith,  and  at  the  same  time  by  the 
chorus  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  catching 
the  word  from  her. — The  king  has  brought 
me  into  his  chambers — a  simple  expression 
of  the  virgin's  rapturous  joy  at  the  high  honor 
and  delight  granted  her  by  the  king,  ^s  the 
words  stand,  they  contain  neither  an  indirect  pe- 
tition or  complaint  addressed  to  her  distant  lover 
(to  which  the  following  clauses  of  the  verse  would 
agree  poorly  enough),  nor  a  wish  directed  to  the 
king — as  though  the  preterite  "JS'pn  were  to  be 
taken  in  the  senseof  aprecative  or  optative:  "O 
that  the  king  had  brought  me  into  his  cham- 
bers" (so,  e.g.,  Hug,  Weissb.),  nor  finally  a  con- 
dition dependent  on  the  following  1J1  Til^li  (so 
Hahn,  who  supplies  DX,  if,  before  ''JN''3n.  "  If 
the  king  brings  me  into  his  chambers,  we  will,"* 
etc.  Furthermore,  the  "king's  chambers"  are 
by  no  means  simply  identical  with  the  harem,  the 
liouse  of  the  wemen  belonging  to  the  royal  palace 
(Vaih.,  Ren.,  elc);  this  would  rather  have  been 
designated  D'tyjn  n"3,  as  in  Esth.  ii.  3,  9,  ff.,  or 
simply  called  n'3,  house,  as  in  1  Kings  vii.  8  ;  ix. 
24;  Ps.  Ixviii.  13,  elc.  They  are  2  Sam.  iv.  7; 
xiii.  10,  the  king's  own  rooms  in  the  palace,  his 
sleeping  apartments  and  sitting-rooms,  ^ene^ra/ia 
regis,  in  distinction  from  those  of  his  wives  and 
the  ladies  of  the  court,  which  formed  a  particular 
division  of  the  royal  palace.  Comp.  1  Kings  vii. 
8  ;  Esth.  ii.  12-14.  Into  these  the  king's  own 
innermost,  apartments,  Shulamith,  as  the  favored 
object  of  his  special  love,  had  been  repeatedly 
brought, — nay,  she  has  in  them  her  own  proper 
abode  and  residence.  She  had  therefore  a  per- 
fect right  to  say  :  "  The  king  has  brought  me  into 
his  chambers"! — 'We  ■will  exult  and  be  glad 
in  thee. — With  these  words,  which  recall  Ps. 
xxxi.  7;  cxviii.  24;  Isa.  xxv.  9;  Joel  ii.  21,  23, 
the  ladies  of  the  court  again  chime  in  with  the 
language  of  Shulnmiih,  in  order  to  commend  with 
her  the  happiness  of  belonging  to  the  number  of 
those  who  were  loved  by  the  king.     ^3,  in  thee. 


the  direction  of  the  running  more  than  "draw  me,"  where 
the  direction  is  sufficiently  implied.  The  violation  of  the  ac- 
cents is  merely  for  the  sake  of  evading  the  evideuce  afforded 
by  the  masc.  pron.  H^inX,  that  "after  thee  we  will  run"  it 

still  the  language  of  the  bride  to  Solomon — not  of  her  virgin 
companions  to  the  bride. — Tr]. 

*  L  So  too  Weiss.  :  "  When  the  king  shall  have  brought  me;" 
nor  is  it  a  prophetic  preterite,  the  bride  anticipating  the  time 
when  she  shall  be  brought  (Thrupp).  Gissburo  insists  that 
the  changes  of  person  in  this  verse  "clearly  show  that  the 
king  here  referred  to  is  a  separate  person  from  the  beloved  to 
whom  the  maiden  is  addressing  herself."  But  he  is  compelled 
to  acknt.wledge  that  just  before  in  ver.  2  the  third  person 
and  till.  secoiKi  lioth  refer  to  the  same  subject. — Tr.) 

t  [  This  would  seem  to  compel  the  conclusion  that  the  mar- 
riage has  already  tjiken  place,  and  is  not  still  future,  as  our 
author  sujiposes. — Tr.] 


r.  1— II.  7. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


5-, 


belongs  in  equal  measure  to  both  verbs  ;  comp. 
Isa.  IxT.  19. — 'We  will  celebrate  thy  love 
more  than  ■wine. — Comp.  ver.  2. — Rightly  do 
they  love  thee. — The  most  obvious  coustruciiou 
id  to  make  the  virgins  again  the  subject,  as  in  3 
c,  and  consequently  to  regard  Shulamith  as  again 
the  speaker.  But  the  Sd  plur.  might  also  be 
taken  impersonally  (they,  i.  e.,  people  generally 
love  thee.  Comp.  1?3',  thej/  despise,  viii.  1),  and 
then  the  clause  might  be  spoken  by  the  entire 
chorus.      Cljy'O,  an  adverbial   accusative   (as, 

e.  g.,  D'X7i3,  wonderfully.  Lam.  i.  9),  means  nei- 
ther "without  reserve"  (Weissb.),  nor  "sin- 
cerely" (Gese.v.,  Del.)  [so  Noyes  ;  Eng.  Ver. 
marg.:  uprightly],  but,  as  appeal's  from  the  con- 
text and  the  parallels  Ps.  Iviii.  2;  Ixxv.  3,  "with 
good  reason,  rightly"  (Ew.,  Hitzio,  Vaih.,  etc.). 
This  word  is  taken  as  the  subject  by  the  Sept. 
(fiicJiVz/f),  Vulg.  (recti  diligunt  te),  Hengstenb. 
(rectitudes,  !.  c,  abst.  for  concrete,  the  upright 
love  thee),  U.mbr.  (0  favorite  of  all  the  virtues), 
etc.  [so  Eng.  Ver.,  Thrupp,  Wordsworth,  With- 
INOTO.N,  Gi.NSBURo],  interpretations  as  ungram- 
matioal  as  they  are  unsuited  to  the  connection. 
The  attempts  at  emendation  proposed  by  Velth., 
ScHELLiNQ,  .A-UocsTi,  are  altogether  Unnecessary* 
(see  Weissb.,  in  loc). 

4.   Shulamith.   Vers.  5-7. 

Ver.  5.  Black  I  am,  but  comely. — The  ex- 
planation of"  the  fact  that  she  was  black 
(min0)  contained  in  the  following  verse  shows 
that  by  this  blackness  can  only  be  meant  her  be- 
ing browned  by  the  hot  sun.  Then  too  in  Lam. 
iv.  8  the  substantive  ^int?  denotes  only  the  livid 
or  swarthy  appearance  of  one  who  has  sutfered 
long  from  famine  and  wretchedness,  and  in  this 
very  passage  the  strong  expression  "  black  "  is 
qualitied  by  the  diminutive  "blackish"  (nimnty) 
iu  the  verse  immediately  following. — Moreover, 
the  whole  statement  before  us  was  occasioned  ac- 
cording to  ver.  6,  by  the  curious  looks  with 
which  Shulamith  had  meanwhile  been  regarded 
by  many  of  tlie  daughters  of  Jerusalem  and  pro- 
bably also  by  jeering  remarks  which  they  had 
made  (comp.  ver.  8).  "  But  comely  "  [T.wlor: 
attractive,  engaging]  (msj.,  lit.,  "agreeable")  ; 
the  plain  country  maid  hereby  expresses  with 
frank,  straightforward  simplicity  her  conscious- 
ness that  nevertheless  she  was  not  altogether  un- 
worthy of  the  love  of  Solomon.  There  is  no  vain 
lelf-laudation  in  the  words. — As  the  tents  of 
Kedar,  as  the  curtains  of  Solomon. — The 
hrst  of  these  comparisons  is  designed  to  illustrate 
and  set  before  the  mind  the  idea  of  blackness,  the 
second  that  of  comeliness  or  elegance.  "Kedar 
is  a  Bedawin  tribe  near  Palestine  in  the  Arabian 
ilesert.  Gen.  xxv.  13;  Isa.  xxi.  17,  which  is  here 
named  in  preference  to  all  others,  simply  because 
the  name  lip.  seems  originally  to  denote 
"blackness."  Tents  of  poor  Bedawins,  which 
are  always  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  must 
certainly  appear  blacker  and  less  attractive  than 
tliose  of  Solomon;  and  we  need  not  therefore 
with  other  interpreters  (see  especially  Hitz.  and 

*rFRy,  who  disregards  the  points;  they  do  right  in  loving 
thee.    ttooD  altent  the  text  into:  thou  art  every  way  lovely.]  I  tion,  Noyes.] 


Weissb.  who  refer  to  the  observations  of  modern 

travellers  as  DELL.tVALLE,BDKCKHARl>T,HARMER, 

Volsey,  etc., )  have  recourse  to  the  tents  now  com- 
monly covereii  with  black  goat  skins,  as  Shulamith 
only  has   in   mind   the  bhvckness   caused   by  tli? 

I  sun's  rays.   But  Solomon's  tents  as  a  figure  of  the 

j  greatest  elegance  can  only  correspond  to  HIXJ 
Cornell/,  We  may  without  difficulty  assume  that 
the  splendor-loving  Solomon  adopted  the  cus- 
tom of  oriental  monarchs  of  living  in  tents  once 
in  the  year  in  some  charming  district  and  in  the 
utmost  elegance  and  splendor  (comp.  the  re- 
marks above,  ver.  1,  respecting  the  pleasure 
grounds  at  Etham  and  Engedi.)  It  is,  therefore, 
wholly  unnecessary  to  understand  by  Jllj^'i'  (with 
Del.,  Hitz.,  e^c,)  tapestry,*  which  is  neither  per- 

I  mitted  by  usage  nor  by  etymology,  from  i'y  con- 
tinuit,  prop,  velum,  then  tent-cloth."  We  shall 
have  in  the  main  to  abide  by  this  explanation  of 
the  passage  given  by  Ewald,  although  we  might, 
assign  to  Hi?""!'  a  different  etymology,  and  derive 
it   perhaps   with  Gesenius    from  }!y  to  tremble, 

flutter,  or  with  Weissb.  from  yy  to  be  bad,  i.  e., 
of  coarse,  inferior  workmanship.  The  two  com- 
parisons are  in  any  case  understood  in  quite  too 
artificial  a  manner  by  the  latter  and  by  several 
others,  whoassume  thatbolhthetentsof  Kedarand 


^  the  tent-coverings  of  Solomon  set  forth  the  pecu- 
liar combination  of  dark  color  with  attractiveness 
in  Shulamith's  looks  (for  which  an  appeal  is  made 
'  to  the  testimony  of  travellers  like  D'Arvieux, 
Shaw,  etc.,  according  to  whom  a  plain  filled  with 
the  black  tents  of  the  Bedawin  presents  a  very 
pleasing  and  even  beautiful  spectacle. )  In  oppo- 
sition to  Bottcher's  view,  who  though  he  assigns 
the  words  "Black  am  I,  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem, as  the  tents  of  Kedar  "  to  the  "  vinedresser," 
i.  e.,  to  Shulamith,  refers  the  rest  ("  but  comely  " 
and  "  as  the  tent  cloths  of  Solomon  ")  to  an  "  elder- 
ly princess,"  who  looks  with  astonishment  at  the 
new  comer,  comp.  Hitz.  in  loc,  who  properly  re- 
bukes the  extravagance  of  the  dissecting  mania 
here  exhibited. 

Ver.  6.  Look  not  at  me  because  I  am 
dusky,  because  the  sun  has  scorched  me. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  context  to  indicate  that 
the  "look  "  is  one  of  approval,  in  admiration  of 
her  beauty  •)•  (i'crsusBoTTCHEE,  liiTZ.,  etc.)  Comp. 
above  on  ver.  5.  My  mother's  sons  ^vere 
angry  with  me.  Velth.,  Umbr.,  Ewald 
needlessly  think  of  step- brothers  or  half- 
brothers  ;  the  passages  adduced  for  this  pur- 
pose Lev.  xviii.  9;  xx.  11:  Deut.  xxiii.  2, 
etc.,  are  outweighed  by  many  others  as  Gen. 
xxvii.  29;  Ps.  1  20;  Ixix.  9;  Deut.  xiii.  7,  where 
"  mother's  sons  "  corresponds  in  the  parallelism 
to  "  brothers,"  and  consequently  is  entirely  sy- 
nonymous with  it.  And  this  expression  is  the  lesa 
surprising  in  Shulamith's  mouth  siuee  like  a  true 
Hebrew  daughter  she  is  in  the  habit  of  denomi- 
nating everything  after  her  mother  ;  comp.  "my 
mother's  house,"  iii.  4;  viii.  2.  and  so  too  Ruth 
i-  8.  We  need  not  even  assume  that  she  would 
intimate  a  less  favorable  judgment  of  her  brothers 

*  [Eno.  Ver..  curtains.  Ainsworth  :  the  goodly  hangings 
that  were  in  his  house  and  about  his  bed.] 

I  [Look  not  di-sdainfuUy  upon  me.  Hall  ;  do  not  too  accu- 
rately scrutinize,  T.\rLOR ;  Gaze  with  wonder  at  her  preaump- 


66 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II. 


as  more  or  less  strange  or  distant  in  their  bear- 
ing to  her  (RocKE,  Hitz.)  ;  and  there  is  still  less 
to  justify  the  assumption  that  her  brothers  are 
by  this  expression  emphatically  designated  as 
Shulamith's  own  broihers-german  (vs.  Magnus.) 
Yet  it  may  with  considerable  probability  be  in- 
ferred from  the  expression  before  us,  that  Shula- 
mith's father  was  no  longer  living  at  the  time  of 
this  transaction,  and  her  brothers  had  assumed 
the  prerogatives  of  a  father  (comp.  Gen.  xxxiv. 
6,  ff. ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  20  ff.),  but  that  her  mother 
meanwhile  was  still  living,  which  also  seems  to  be 
favored  by  vi.  9,  (viii.  2;  iii.  4). — Made  me 
keeper  of  the  vineyards.  This  manifestly 
does  not  assign  the  reason  of  her  brothers'  an- 
ger, nor  is  this  intimated  in  the  following  clause 
(vs.  Hengstenbero  and  E.  Meier),  it  is  rather 
passed  over  in  silence  as  irrelevant.  But  this 
clause  tells  what  her  brothers  did  in  consequence 
of  their  anger,  and  then  the  last  clause  states 
what  further  happened  to  her  wlien  degraded  into 
a  vineyard-keeper. — Mine   o'wn   vineyard  I 

have  not  kept. — The  addition  of  'W  not  only 
gives  a  special  emphasis  to  the  suffix  in  ''P")3, 
but  distinguishes  the  vineyard  of  Shulaniith  here 
named  as  quite  distinct  and  of  another  sort  from 
those  of  her  brothers,  which  she  had  been 
obliged  to  keep  (soviii.  12).  It  is  a  vineyard  of  a 
higher  and  more  valuable  kind,  which  alas!  she 
had  not  carefully  guarded.  She  herself  with  all 
that  she  has  and  is,  must  be  intended  by  this 
vineyard  of  her  own  (comp.  Del.  and  Weissb.  tn 
loc),  or  it  may  be  her  beauty  (Ew.,  Dopke.,  Magn., 
Heiligst.,  Hitz.,  Vaih.), — at  all  events  every 
thing  that  she  had  to  surrender  to  Solomon  and 
devote  to  him  when  she  became  his  beloved  and 
followed  him.  There  is,  in  these  words,  no  se- 
rious lament  for  her  lost  virtue  (on  the  con- 
trary see  iv.  12-10)  or  for  her  forsaken  lover  (as 
BoTTCHER,  Meier  and  tentatively  also  Vaih.); 
but  they  contain  a  lament  half  in  jest  or  with 
mingled  sadness  and  irony  for  her  forfeited 
freedom,  for  which  she  constantly  longs  in  spite 
of  her  attachment  to  her  royal  lover.  In  favor 
of  this  double  meaning  of  "  vineyard"  may  also 
be  urged  the  etymology  ot  0'}2,  which  agreeably 
to  its  derivation  from  the  root  C^D,  signifies  the 
"noblest,"  the  "most  valued  possession,"  the 
"highest  good,"  (comp.  Hos.  ii.  17:  Isa.  v.  7; 
I's.  xvi.  6,  as  well  as  Ewald  and  Hitzig  m  loc). 
Ver.  7.  Tell  me,  thou  whom  my  soul 
loveth,  ■where  feedest  thou?  To  this  dreamy 
exclamation  of  longing  desire  for  her  still  absent 
lover,  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse  forms  a 
thoroughly  appropriate  introduction.  Despoiled 
of  her  freedom  and  her  beloved  home  she  can 
only  then  feel  happy  amid  the  new  and  splendid 
objects  which  surround  her,  when  he  from  love 
to  whom  she  has  forsaken  all  and  to  whom  her 
whole  heart  belongs,  is  actually  close  beside  her. 

''1  nTjn  "inform  me"  not  "cause  me  to  be  in- 
formed,"  for  T'JH  always  denotes  an  immediate 
declaration  or  announcement.  This  expression 
would  manifestly  be  less  suited  to  an  address  to  a 
far  distant  lover.  The  paraphrase  of  the  idea  '"in 
by  the  fond  circumlocution  "  whom  my  soul  loveth" 
in  found  four  times  beside  in  the  beautiful  section 


iii.  1-4. — Shulamith  represents  her  royal  lover 
as  "feeding"  and  then  as  "  reclining"  (or  more 
exactly  as  "causing  to  recline,"  riz  ,  his  flock ) 
simply  because,  as  a  plain  country  girl,  she  suji- 
poses  that  she  can  directly  transfer  to  him  the  re- 
lations and  occupations  of  country  life,  and  hence 
assumes  that  the  king  may  now  be  somewhere  in 
the  fields  with  his  flocks,  and  have  sought  with 
them  some  shady  resting-place  as  a  protection 
from  the  hot  noon-day  sun.  That  Solomon  was 
just  then  residing  in  his  pleasure  grounds  near 
Jerusalem,  that  is  to  say  in  the  country,  miglii 
favor  this  artless  conception  of  hers  (comp.  above 
on  ver.  5.)  But  the  assumption  of  Weissbach  is 
needless,  that  Solomon  was  then  actually  engaged 
in  the  over-sight  of  his  flocks  (Eccles.  ii.  7)  like 
.Vbsalom  and  his  brothers  who,  according  to  2 
Sam.  xiii.  23,  ff.,  were  accustomed  to  manage 
the  sheep-shearing  themselves,  and  to  convert  it 
into  a  merry-making.  Nothing  further  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  expressions  before  lis,  than  a  ready 
trope  from  pastoral  life,  and  consequently  one  of 
those  criteria  which  mark  this  poem  as  at  least  a 
partially  idyllic  or  pastoral  drama  (comp.  Intro- 
iluc.  §  1,  Rem.  3).  That  Joseph's  going  to  the 
pasturage  of  his  brethren,  Gen.  xxxvii.  1h,  16, 
was  what  specially  suggested  the  present  figura- 
tive representation  is  too  far-fetched,  though  as- 
serted by  Hengstenbero,  and  connected  with  his 
allegorical  mode  of  interpretation.  Parallels  lor 
this  "  reclining  at  noon  "  may  better  be  adduced 
from  the  figurative  language  of  the  prophets,  as 
Isa.  xlix.  10;  Ps.  xxiii.  2;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  13-1.5, 
or  even  from  the  ancient  classics,  as  Theocritus, 
Id.,  i.  14,  15;  vi.  4;  xxv.  216:  Horace,  Orf., 
III.  xxix.  21 ;  Virg.  Georg.  III.  324  ff.* 


[*The  introduction  of  these  figures  from  pastoral  life  liaH 
occasioned  much  needless  perplexity  among  interpreters. 
Clarke  says :  "  How  this  would  apply  either  to  Solomon  or 
to  the  princess  of  Egypt,  is  not  easy  to  iiscertain.  Probahly 
in  the  marriage  festival  there  was  something  like  our  masks, 
in  which  persons  of  quality  assumed  rural  chanicters  ami 
their  employments."  Some  have  thought  this  to  he  a  sepa- 
rate and  independent  comijosition,  unconnected  with  the  pre- 
ceding in  which  the  king  was  spoken  of.  So  besides  the  tier- 
man  fragmentists,  Fry,  who  begins  a  new  idyl  with  ver.  7  on 
account  of  "the  entire  change  of  imagery."  Othery  maint<un 
that  the  unity  of  the  poem  is  unbroken,  but  insist  that  the 
king  and  the  shepherd  are  distinct  i)ersons;  so  Ginsbub(;  and 
the  entire  chiss  of  interpreters  to  which  he  belongs,  and  ex- 
tremes meeting  here  as  not  infrequently  elsewhere,  allegori- 
cal interpreters  have  gone  so  far  in  the  same  direction  as  to 
allege  that  these  diverse  representations  are  incompatible  in 
application  to  any  literal  subject,  and  that  no  consistent  sense 
can  be  made  of  them  but  by  referring  them  to  Christ.  Thif. 
however,  is  to  prejudice  the  beauty  and  perfection  of  the  alle- 
gory, and  to  damage  the  spiritual'  inten^retation  of  the  Song 
itself  The  author  of  the  Song  is  not  writing  directly  of 
Christ  and  His  church,  but  only  under  the  figure  of  a  briiie- 
groom  and  his  bride.  His  language  must,  therefore,  in  all 
Ciises  have  immediate  application  to  the  latter,  and  can  set 
forth  the  former  only  as  the  character  and  relations  in  which 
the  more  immediate  subjects  arc  presented,  serve  as  their 
faithful  image.  If  this  image  is  distorted,  wanting  in  con- 
sistency, and  its  various  parts  mutually  discordant,  the  eftect 
of  the  whole  is  marred,  its  beauty  and  its  truth  are  defaced. 
It  is  at  least  safe  to  say  that  this  is  an  assumption,  which 
should  not  be  made  without  neces9it.y. 

The  objection  to  the  explanation  of  the  bride's  language 
given  by  Zockler  is.  that  it  seems  to  impute  to  her  the  silly 
conceit  that  her  royal  husband  or  betrothed  was  actually  en- 
gaged in  the  occupation  of  a  shepherd,  and  it  makes  the  rejdy 
by  the  daughters  of  .lerusalem  utterly  immeaning.  WliH- 
l.NOTON  presents  three  alternatives,  the  last  of  which  is  the 
only  simple  and  natural  one.  This  speech  "may  be  a  natu- 
ral mistake  of  the  rural  lass  on  her  first  union  with  tlie  kjng. 
or  it  may  be  the  king  went  into  her  country  to  rusticate,  or 
it  may  be  an  allegorical  expression  by  which  she  signifiei 
that  the  king  is  a  shepherd  and  his  kingdom  is  a  flock."  W'lL- 
Ll.iMS:  "If  he  be  like  a  good  shepherd  feeding  b*s  flock,  ad* 


r.  1— II. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


r.T 


For  ■why  should  I  be  as  one  straying  ?  etc. 
n'Di'3  is  very  variously  explained.  DBJ?  "  to 
cover"  is  commonly  regarded  as  its  theme,  and 
it  is  accordingly  translated  ■'  as  one  veiled  "  [so 
Eng.  Ver.  margin]  i.  e.,  as  a  harlot,  Gen.  xxxviii. 
14,  15  (RosBNM.,  Del.)  [so  Thrupp,  Burbowes, 
Notes];  or  as  "one  ashamed,  veiled  through 
shame"  (Umbreit,  Dopke,  He.ngstenbeeo),  or 
"as    one  unknown"    (Ewalo,    Heiligst.,    who 


compare  the  Arab. 


\^    obs' 


xcurus  fuit,  oc- 


cultavit)  [Williams:  as  a  stranger],  or  "as  a 
mourner,"  (so  some  of  the  older  commentators,  as 
R.  .Solomon  ben  Melek,  [.\i.\sworth]  after  2 
Sam.  XV.  30).  [Weiss.  :  Muffled  up  as  eastern  wo- 
men always  were  when  exposed  to  the  eyes  of 
strangers,  and  as  a  shepherdess  subject  to  insolent 
and  injurious  treatment  from  theshepherds,  comp. 
Ex.  ii.  lH-19].  Bui  the  signification  "cover"  can 
no  more  be  proved  for  nD>?.  than  that  of  "  pining 
away,"  which  Schultens  ( Op.  Min.  p.  240),  Rockb 
and  others  have  sought  to  establish  for  the  word. 
The  V^ulgate  (ne  vagari  incipiam),  Svmmach.  (<jr 
peftSufih'i/'j,  Syr.  and  Targ..  favor  the  meaning  of 
wandering  or  straying,  which  is  admirably  suited 
to  the  context;  [Clarke:  as  a  wanderer;  one 
who  not  knowing  where  to  find  lier  companions 
wanders  fruitlessly  in  seeking  them.]  In  proof  of 
it  we  shall  not  need  B<jttcher's  emendation 
ri'OJJ'P  ("as  a  country-stroller"),  but  simply 
Hitzig's  assumption  that  r\'0}!  by  a  transposi- 
tion of  the  V  is  for  n;71D  (=  n>'ii"i  comp.  Gen. 
xxxvii.    l-j) ;    comp.    '\''P  ^ ']V<  ^tSi'^  Arab. 

I      1    etc.,  (a  view  as  old  as   Kleuker  in  loc, 

who  with  S.  BocHAKT  actually  proposes  to  read 
n'iTOD).  The  following  expression  "  by  the 
flocks  of  thy  companions  "  is  closely  connected 
with  this  idea  as  the  more  exact  limitation  of  the 
"straying."  The  "straying  by  the  flocks  of  the 
king's  companions,"  is  notiiing  but  a  figure  of 
speech  for  remaining  among  the  throng  of  ladies 
in  the  royal  court  without  the  presence  of  the 
king  himself;  and  that  is  just  the  veritably  deso- 
late and  forlorn  condition,  from  which  Shula- 
mith  wishes  to  be  released  by  the  return  of  her 
lover.  HiTziG  arbitrarily  explains  the  wander- 
ing of  a  wandering  of  her  thoughts;  and  still 
more  arbitrarily  Weissb.^ch  seeks  to  give  to  HOy 

(with  the  following  7^  for  7N)  the  sense  of 
"laying  hands  upon,  purloining"  ("that  I,  by 
the  flocks  of  thy  companions,  be  not  regarded  as 
one  who  will  lay  hands  upon  them,"  and  for  that 
reason  is  sneaking  about  them  watching  his  op- 
portunity.) 

o.   The  daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

Ver.  8.  If  thou  kno'w  not,  fairest  among 
^omen,  etc.  This  address  (lit.  "  tlie  fair  (one) 
among  the  women."  compare  [Green's  He- 
brew Grammar,  ^  260,  2  (2)],  Ewalu,  Lehrbuch. 
J  513,  c  )   which   is   also  used  v.  9;  vi.  1  by  the 

ministering  pnljlic  benfifits  and  dispensing  judgment,  w!iy 
should  not  I  enjoy  the  common  benefit?  It  he  be  indulging 
in  retirement,  why  may  not  I,  who  am  admitted  as  his  wife, 
tnjoy  his  company  and  conversation  ?"]  ( 


"  daughters  of  Jerusalem  "  in  speaking  to  Shu- 
lamith,  does  not  prove  that  the  counsel  here  given 
"  to  follow  the  tracks  of  the  flocks  and  pasture 
her  kids  beside  the  shepherds'  huts"  is  a  seri- 
ously meant  exhortation  to  Shulamith  to  return 
to  the  condition  of  a  shepherdess,  or  a  friendly 
direction  to  her  on  her  way  to  the  royal  flocka 
(Weissb.).  This  language  is  evidently  an  "an- 
swer adapted  to  the  narrow  range  of  thought  iii;- 
plied  in  Shulamith's  question  (which  must  neces- 
sarily appear  foolish  to  the  ladies  of  the  court) 
and  hence  an  unmeaning  one,  after  which  the 
fair  shepherdess  kntw  neither  more  nor  less  tliaii 
she  did  before"  (Del).  It  is  therefore  jceringly 
I  intended,  and  if  it  did  not  exactly  wound  her 
deeply,  it  was  certainly  adapted  to  increase  Sim- 

lamith's  longing  for  her  lover.  —  '"i*"?'!]  "'^"DX 
means  neither  "if  thou  do  not  know  thyself" 
(.Sept.,  Luth.),  nor  "  if  thou  art  deficient  in  un- 
derstanding" (Ew,ald,  HiTZiG,  e/c,  whoappeal  to 
Isa.  i.  3  ;  Ivi.  10,  passages  not  appropriate  in  this 
connection),  but  conformably  to  the  similar  pas- 
sage, vi.  12,  "if  thou  know  not,"  viz..-  where  ihy 
lover  feeds,   this   object  being  readily   supplied 


'3pj^'3  ^S-xy 


go  out 
follow 
there- 
2C;  2 
going 


from  the  context. — ]XSn 
at  the  heels  of  the  flock,"  i.  e.,  go  after  it, 
its  tracks,  comp.  Judg.  iv.  10;  v.  15.  Ni" 
fore  denotes  here,  as  the  Hiphil  in  Isa.  xl. 
Sam.  V.  2,  going  forth  with  the  flock,  not 
out  of  the  palace  (Vaih.,  etc.). — "  Thy  kids, 
!.  e.,  the  kids  which  as  such  an  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirer of  country  life,  and  a  shepherd's  occupa- 
tion you  must  certainly  have.  That  she  actually 
had  some  with  her  (Weissb.)  by  no  means  fol- 
lows from  this  expression. 

6.  Second  Scene.  Solomon,  vers.  9-11.  The 
king  has  now  returned  from  the  engagements, 
which  had  hitherto  detained  him  from  his  wo- 
men, and  he  begins  a  tender  conversation  with 
Shulamith,  who  is  favored  by  him  above  all  the 
rest ;  during  which  the  others  withdraw  into  the 
background.     Comp.  No.  1,  above. 

Ver.  9.  To  my  horse  in  Pharaoh's  chari- 
ots, literally:  "to  my  mare;"  for  DDID  can 
scarcely  stand  collectively  for  D"0?D  "  horses, 
a  body  of  horse,"  (Vulg.  "  eguitatui ;  Hengstb., 
Weissb.,  etc.),  and  there  is  nothing  to  justify  its 

being  pointed  'riD^D;  (Maon.,  Hitz.).  The 
singular  ''riD^D/  evidently  refers  to  a  favorite 
mare  of  the  king  (comp.  Zech.  x.  3),  to  a  partic- 
ularly fine,  and  splendidly  caparisoned  specimen 
of  those  Ttocapei;  ;^7Aid{5ef  -ififMiat  "imroL,  which  ac- 
cording to  1  Kin.  X.  26,  Sept.,  Solomon  had  for 
his  chariots;  and  more  exactly  to  such  a  steed 
used  on  state  occasions  in  Solomon's  "  Pharaoh- 
chariots,"  (.  e.,  in  those  costly  Pharaonic  spans 
of  horses,  which  according  to  1  Kin.  x.  28,  29, 
he  had  imported  from  Egypt.  Solomon  conj- 
pares  his  beloved  to  this  mare  of  his,  harnessed 
and  magnificently  decorated  before  stately  Pha- 
raoli-chariots  (not  exactly  before  one  of  them, 
Vatabl.),  and  that  "  on  account  of  her  youthful 
bloom  and  her  unaflecled  demeanor,  whose  lovely 
charms  are  still  further  heightened  by  the  sim- 
ple ornaments  worn  upon  her  head  and  neck, 
vers.  10,  11   "  (Del.).     The  point  of  the  compa- 


58 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II.  7. 


rison  is  ttot  to  be  sought  exclusively  in  the  proud 
bearing  of  the  horse,  Job  xxxix.  19,  etc.  (Ewald, 
Vaih.,  etc.),  any  more  than  in  the  glittering  or- 
naments of  his  head  and  neck.  In  opposition  to 
Wbissb.,  who  thinks  merely  of  the  latter,  and  re- 
ferring to  Hartma.nn's  Hebraerin  am  Putztische, 
(Hebrew  woman  at  her  Toilet),  Oleaeius  "Per- 
tiache  Seiten  "  (Travels  in  Persia),  etc.  [see  also 
Harmer's  Oullines,  p.  205,  and  the  illustrations 
of  a  bride's  dress,  in  Calmet's  Dictionary'\  main- 
tfiins  that  there  was  a  marked  similarity  between 
the  ornaments  of  pearls  and  chains  worn  by  horses 
and  by  women  in  the  East,  and  consequently  by 
Shulamith  in  the  present  instance,  it  may  be  said 
that  according  to  ver.  11  Solomon  now  first  pro- 
poses to  adorn  his  beloved  with  the  proper  gold 
and  silver  ornaments,  and  therefore  she  did  not 
yet  wear  a  burdensome  head  and  neck  ornament 
like  a  richly  bridled  mare.* — My  dear ;  comp.  i. 
15  ;  ii.  2  ;  iv.  1,  etc.y  where  the  same  familiar  form 
of  address  recurs. 

Ver.  10.  Comely  are  thy  cheeks  in 
chains.  1W  kindred  with  "111,  1113  etc.,  is 
equivalent  to  a  circle,  ring;  in  the  plural  con- 
sequently it  denotes  a  chain  composed  of  many 
rings,  which  goes  around  from  the  head  under 
the  chin,  by  which  therefore  the  cheeks  are  en- 
circled. Shulamith  may  not  have  brought  this 
ornament  together  with  the  necklaces  named  in 
b  (D'Hin  kindred  with  Cin,  Din,  little  disks 
of  metal  or  corals  pierced  and  strung  together) 
with  her  from  the  country,  but  may  have  received 
it  as  a  present  from  Solomon  since  her  coming  to 
the  royal  court.  Solomon,  however,  is  not  satis- 
fied with  this  simple  ornament,  but  promises  her, 
ver.  11,  much  richer  and  more  splendid  jewels, — 
scarcely  with  the  view  of  alluring  her  and  bind- 
ing her  to  his  court  (as  even  Del.  supposes)  but 
simply  to  adorn  yet  more  handsomely  one  who  is 
so  lovely,  and  to  have  his  full  pleasure  in  her  as 
a  magnificently  attired  princess. f 


*  [Claeke,  Bitrrowes,  and  others  adhere  to  the  singular, 
"  to  my  mare  or  steed."  Good  drops  the  pronoun :  "  one  of 
the  steeds,"  supposing  the  final  yodh  to  be  paragogic.  So  the 
common  ling.  Ver.,  which  takes  the  noun  in  a  collective  sense 
*'  company  of  horses,"  and  is  followed  by  the  majority  of  Eng- 
lish commentators,  who  find  in  this  a  proof  of  its  allegorical 
meaning.  The  point  of  comparison  according  to  the  West- 
minster Assembly's  Annotations  is  "  comeliness,"  according 
to  Fry  "  splendid  decoration."  Poole,  "An  horse  is  a  very 
stately  and  beautiful  creature,  and  the  Egyptian  horses  were 
preferred  before  others,  and  Pharaoh's  own  chariot  horses 
were  doubtless  the  best  of  their  kind."  Thrupp,  Words- 
worth, Moody  Stdart  suppose  special  allusion  to  the  formid- 
able character  of  Pharaoh's  horses  and  chariots  at  the  Red 
Sea,  Ex.  xiv.  9,  23.  Several  classic  parallels  have  been  ad- 
duced as  Theocritus,  /dy/,  xviii.  30;  IIorace,  Odes,  iii.W; 
Sophocles,  Electro.  2.?. — Tr.] 

t  ["  The  mention  of  the  Egyptian  steed  in  ver.  9  naturally 
auggested  the  reference  here  made  to  the  beautiful  head-dress 
of  the  spouse."  Burrowes.  "  Whether  she  be  still  compared 
hereby  to  a  company  of  horses,  as  in  ver.  9,  or  to  a  woman  is 
doubtful,  for  both  similitudes  do  agree  to  the  things  here 
spoken  of.  The  bridles  of  horses  are  often  adorned  with  rows 
(of  jewels)  especially  in  kings'  chariots.  Also  the  next  words 
'  thy  neck  with  chains '  may  have  like  reference ;  for  the 
kings  of  Midian  when  they  went  to  war  had  chains  abont 
their  camels'  necks,  Judg.  viii.  26."  Ainsworth,  bo  too  Gill. 
Of  the  ornament  spoken  of  in_the  first  clause  Ainsworth  fur- 
ther says,  " The  same  word  "^ijl  is  also  used  for  a  'turtle- 
dove,' which  some  therefore  take  here  to  bo  jewels  or  orna- 
ments that  had  the  figures  of  '  turtle-doves.'  "  It  is  so  in  fact 
traiirdat'-fl  both  in  the  Sept.  and  VuLO.,  followed  by  Wicliffe 
and  IIOWKV,  "tliy  cheeks  are  beautiful  as  the  turtle-doves," 
So  too  Cranmer  and  Bishops  ;  "  thy  cheeks  and  thy  neck  are 
beautiful  a«  the  turtle's."  It  is  needless  to  say  after  the  ex- 
planation given  in  the  commentary  that  this  rendering  con- 
founds two  entirely  distinct  words. — ^Tr.] 


Ver.  11.  Chains  of  gold — ■writh  points  ol 
silver.  Needlessly,  and  quite  too  artificially, 
Weissb.  will  have  us  understand  by  the  PnPl 
^03n  something  similar  to  the  D'H'in  little 
disks  of  silver  pierced  and  strung  together,  which 
might  be  worn  along  with  the  gold  chains.  But 
Di^  with  by  no  means  requires  this  explanation 
(comp.  iv.  13)  :  it  rather  leads  to  the  far  mort 
natural  assumption  that  the  golden  chains  were 
dotted  with  silver  ^'pu?icltji  argenttis  distincti'* 
(Hitzig).* 

7.   Shulajiith  vers.  12-14. 

Ver.  12.  'Whilst  the  king  (is)  at  his  table, 
my  spikenard  yields  its  fragrance.  If  these 
words  were  to  be  translated  :  "  whilst  the  king 
was  at  his  table,  my  spikenard  yielded  its  fra- 
grance" (Rosenmueller,  Ewald,  Henqstenb., 
Vaih.,  Weissb.,  f^c),  they  could  only  mean  :  "as 
long  as  Solomon  was  absent,  and  did  not  burden 
me  with  his  attentions,  I  was  happy  in  the  mem- 
ory of  my  friend ;"  they  would  accordingly 
bear  an  emphatic  testimony  to  the  correctness  of 
the  herdsman  or  shepherd-hypothesis;  for  that 
the  "  fragrance  of  the  spikenard  "  is  to  be  taken 
literally  and  explained  of  the  costly  nard-oil  on 
Shulamith's  hair  and  garments,  which  had  been 
as  it  were  suppressed  and  far  exceeded  by  the 
coming  of  her  lover  with  his  much  more  delight- 
ful fragrance  (Weissb.)  is  a  very  far-fetched  ex- 
planation of  these  simple  words,  j  They  are  ra- 
ther to  be  taken  as  referring  to  the  present,  be- 
cause the  fact  of  there  being  no  T^'T^  was  in  the  pro- 
tasis makes  against  the  preterite  sense  of  tnj  ffive^ 
(comp.  HiTZ.  in  loc.)  and  because  3DD  does  not 
properly  mean  table,  but  rather  company,  festive 
assembly  (comp.  the  adverbial  use  of  the  word  in 
the  singular,  1  Kin.  vi.  29,  and  in  the  plural.  2 
Kin.  xxiii.  5;  Job  xxxvii.  12)  and  consequently 
points  to  the  place  where  the  king  then  was,  to 
the  women's  apartment  of  his  palace  or  park  in 
contrast  with  his  former  stay  in  the  fields,  with 
the  soldiers,  on  the  chase,  or  elsewhere.  The 
fragrance  of  Shulamith's  nard  is  accordingly  a 
figurative  designation  of  the  agreeable  sensations 
or  delightful  feelings  produced  in  her  heart  by 
the  presence  of  her  lover  (comp.  Del.  :   "it  only 

[*  Burrowes  adopts  the  conjecture  of  HaR5ier  in  his  Out- 
lines, p.  206.  that  this  is  the  description  of  a  crown.  So  Moody 
Stuart  :  These  silver  studded  circles  of  gold  mean  either  the 
royal  or  the  nuptial  crown,  or  both  in  one.  Patrick,  Wil- 
liams, Taylor  make  this  the  language  not  of  the  bridegroom, 
but  of  the  attendant  virgins.] 

[■fMuch  less  BO,  however,  than  that  which  would  make  the 
nard  refer  to  a  distant  shepherd  lover,  of  whose  existence 
there  is  no  evidence.  Weiss,  who  adopts  the  above  rendering 
gives  a  peculiar  turn  to  the  thought :  "  The  bride  is  supposed 
to  have  been  proviiled  with  a  bundle  of  spikenard,  with  which 
she  intended  to  regale  her  bridegroom,  when  he  entered  the 
banqueting  house  or  saloon,  where  the  guests  and  the  bride 
await  him,  and  he  approached  to  salute  her  according  to  cus- 
tom. But  unfortunately  the  bridegroom  being  detained  a 
long  time  in  another  chamber  by  one  of  the  guests,  the  bride's 
precious  bundle  of  spikenard  yielded  all  its  fragrance,  and  l>e- 
came  useless.  When  he  enters,  however,  ver.  13  it  is  morv 
than  supplied  by  the  delicious  odors  of  the  bridegroom's  oint- 
ments and  spiccx,  « liich  till  all  the  room."  This  belongs  to 
his  historical  int'Tpretation  of  it  as  an  emblem  of  Israel's 
losing  his  piou.'*  fervor  and  lapsing  into  gross  sin.  while  the 
Lord  was  with  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  subsequent  for- 
giving love  and  condescending  grace  of  God. — Tr.] 

[I  There  is  no  need  of  departing  from  the  preterite  form  t^ 
the  Hebrew  verb  to  obtjiin  the  sense  desired.  It  should  bs 
rendered  "Whilst  the  king  has  been  (as  he  still  is)  with  liiH 
company,  my  nard  has  yielded  its  fragrance." — Tr.] 


I.  1— II.  7. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


39 


eaiits  again  that  fragrance,  which  it  has  absorbed 
from  his  glances  "),  a  representation  which  by  no 
means  sounds  too  refined  and  courtly  for  this 
simple  country  girl,  this  child  of  nature,  which 
therefore  Hitzig  very  needlessly  puts  (as  well  as 
ver.  13)  into  the  mouth  of  an  enamored  court 
UJy  as  a  voluptuous  piece  of  flattery  for  Solomon.* 
For  T^J,  which  must  here  denote  not  a  stalk  of 
the  well-known  Indian  plant  Valeriana  Jatamansi 
(  M.\qm.,Bottchek),  but  the  aromatic  unguent  pre- 
pared from  it,  and  that  as  poured  out,  and  con- 
sequently emitting  its  fragrance,  comp.  Wi.ver, 
R.  W.  B.  Art.,  "  Narde."  [Smith's  Dictionar;/ 
of  the  Bible,  Art.  Spikenard.  Kitto's  Biblical 
Cyclopedia,  Art.  Nerd]. 

Ver.  13.  A  bundle  of  myrrh  is  my  beloved 
to  me.  Evidently  an  advance  upon  the  figure 
of  the  fragrant  nard.  The  royal  lover,  who  now 
rests  upon  Shulamith's  bosom,  is  compared  by 
her  to  a  parcel  of  the  costly  myrrh-gum  such  as 
the  ladies  of  the  East  are  in  the  habit  of  carrying 
iu  their  bosom.  "i^H  IIIX  is  not  a  bunch  [so 
Notes]  or  sprig  of  myrrh  (Ewald,  Delitzsch, 
elc.)  for  there  is  no  more  evidence  of  any  aromatic 
quality  in  the  branches  and  leaves  of  the  myrrh 
tree  than  there  is  of  its  occurrence  in  Palestine 
at  all.  We  must  therefore  think  of  a  bundle  or 
box  (not  exactly  a  flask,  as  Weissb.  proposes, 
contrary  to  the  meaning  of  "lilX)  of  semi-fluid, 
or  fluid  myrrh  gum,  and  must  besides  compare 
the  use  of  this  gum  as  an  unguent,  which  is 
vouched  for  also  in  v.  5,  13;  Eath.  ii.  12;  Ex. 
ixx.  28.  On  the  carrying  of  boxes  of  ointment 
by  Hebrew  women,  comp.  also  Isa.  iii.  20  ;  Job 
xlii.  14,  and  H.VRTM.iNN,  die  Sebrderin  am  Putz- 
lische  II.,  p.  280  t 

Ver.  14.  A  cluster  of  Cyprus  is  my  be- 
loved to  me.  ^33  Sept.:  (/iin-pof  here  and  iv. 
13)  is  the  Cyprus  flower  or  Alhenna,  which  is 
indigenous  to  India,  and  probably  to  Egypt 
(Flint,  H.  N.  xii.  24)  and  may  have  been  trans- 
planted by  Solomon  in  his  vineyards  at  Engedi 
(on  whicli  comp.  No.  1  above)  for  the  sake  of  the 
peculiarly  strong  odor  of  its  yellowish-white, 
grape-like  clusters  of  flowers.  [See  Harmer's 
Outlines,  pp.  218-221;  Shaw's  Travels,  pp.  113, 
'4:  SoNNiNi's  Voi/age,  pp.  291-31)2].  Comp.  in 
respect  to  the  fondness  of  oriental  women  for  this 
aromatic  plant  the  testimony  of  a  recent  traveller 

["*The  meaning  of  this  verse  is  differently  given  by  CovER- 
d\le:  "  When  the  kingsitteth  at  the  table,  he  shall  smell  my 
ninlas."  Her  spikenard  was  not  for  her  own  gratitication  ;  she 
lial  i)*?rfumed  herself  with  it  for  the  king's  sake  alone,  Esth. 
ii.  12.  and  it  now  gladly  diffuses  its  fragrance  in  his  presence 
to  atford  him  pleasure.  This  Frt  takes  in  its  literal  sense, 
supposing  allusion  to  the  throwing  of  flowers  and  perfumes 
as  a  token  of  high  respect  and  complimentary  congratulation. 
To  this  NoYES  adds  with  an  unnecessary  degree  of  hesitation 
its  emblematic  sense:  "It  would  seem  to  be  too  harsh  a  fig- 
ure to  suppose  'my  spikenard'  to  mean  'my  personal  charms 
and  gracis'  though  such  a  supposition  is  favored  by  the  next 
verse."  AiNSWORTH  suggests  the  spiritual  application:  "In 
her  and  from  her  so  adorned  by  her  beloved,  the  odor  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  her,  flowed  forth  and  spread  abroad  to  the  de- 
light of  herself  and  others."  Thrupp:  "The  symbolism  of  the 
.^..ntj  of  songs  was  outwardly  acted,  as  is  recorded  in  the  gos- 
pels in  the  earthly  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  is  also  perma- 
nently embodied  in  the  worship  of  the  Christian  church.  It 
was  while  He  sat  at  table  that  the  feet  of  our  Saviour  were  on 
two  separate  occasions  anointed,  Luke  vii.  3t>-50 ;  John  xii.  3  ff. 
And  it  is  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  that  the 
church  still  most  solemnly  presents  her  sacrifice  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving,  which  she  beseeches  God  of  Hifl  fatherly  good- 
aeii  to  accept." — ^Te.1 


in  the  "  Ausland,"  1851,  No.  17.  "  The  white 
Henna-blossoms,  which  grow  in  clusters  and  aro 
called  Tamar-henna,  have  a  very  penetrating  odor, 
which  seems  disagreeable  to  the  European  who  ii 
unaccustomed  to  it;  but  the  Orientals  have  au 
uncommon  liking  for  this  odor,  and  prefer  it  to 
any  other.  The  native  women  commonly  wear  a 
bouquet  of  Tamar-henna  on  their  bosom."  The 
Hebrew  name  of  this  plant  might  with  Simonis 
and  others  be  derived  from  13D  to  cover,  with 
allusion  to  the  custom  which  prevails  among  Ori- 
ental women  of  staining  their  finger  nails  yellow 
with  Henna  powder,  but  it  is  more  natural  to  re- 
fer "^3.3  as  well  as  Kxjrrpo^  and  the  Lat.  cuprum 
to  the  Sanskrit  root  cuhh,  "to  shine,  be  yellow," 
whence  cubhra.  The  exact  parallelism  between 
ver.  13  and  14,  and  in  general  the  intimate  con- 
nection of  vers.  12-14,  with  their  figures  taken 
without  exception  from  the  region  of  vegetable 
aromas  further  yields  decided  testimony  against 
Hitzig's  division  of  the  passage  as  though  vers. 
12,  13,  belonged  to  one  of  the  women  of  the  Ha- 
rem, and  only  ver.  14  to  Shulamith. 

8.   Solomon,  Shulamith,  vers.  15-17. 

Ver.  15.  lio!  thou  art  fair,  my  deat.  The 
fond  ardor,  with  which  she  has  just  spoken  of 
her  lover,  has  doubled  the  expressive  beauty  of 
her  features.  The  perception  of  this  leads  Solo- 
mon full  of  rapture  to  praise  her  beauty. — Thine 
eyes  are  doves,  i.  e.,not  "thine  eyes  are  doves' 
eyes,"  as  though  (like  Ps.  xlv.  7  ;  1  Kin.  iv.  13, 
Ezra  X.  13)  the  const,     ^i')!    were  to  be  supplied; 

and  the  dove-like  simplicity  and  fidelity  of  Shu- 
lamith's eyes  were  to  be  brought  into  the  account 
as  the  point  of  comparison  (Vulg.,  Str.,  Ib.v 
Ezra,  Vat.,  Gesen.,  Del.,  etc.),  [Eng.  Ver.]  ;  but 
as  is  shown  both  by  the  context  and  the  parallel 
passage,  v.  12,  "  thine  eyes  resemble  the  lustrous 
and  shimmering  plumage  of  doves,"  wherein 
more  particularly  the  white  of  the  eyes  is  com- 
pared to  that  of  the  body,  and  the  lustrous  iris 
to  the  metallic  lustre  of  the  neck  or  wings  of  the 
dove  (comp.  Ps.  Ixviii.  14).  Correctly  therefore 
the  Sept. :  boftaXfioi  gov  TTtpiOTepai,  and  in  the  later 
times  'I'arg.,  Rashi,  Hengstenberg,  Hitzio,  etc.) 
[So  Hodgson,  Williams,  Frv,  Thrupp,  etc.'\. 

Ver.  16.  Lo!  thou  .art  fair,  my  beloved, 
yea  s'weet.  The  exactly  analogous  form  of  ex- 
pression, with  which  Shulamith  here  answers  the 
flattering  caresses  of  the  king,  makes  it  appear 
to  the  last  degree  forced  to  regard  these  worde 
of  hers  as  addressed  to  a  distant  lover.  The  cli' 
macteric  C)!}  '^N  "  yes  sweet,  yes  charming' 
is  only  the  expression  of  her  loving  transport 
and  finds  an  illustrative  commentary  in  the  de- 
scription ii.  3-5.  [Will.,  Gins,  connect  this  ad- 
jective with  what  follows  :  "  Lovely  is  our  ver- 
dant couch  "]. — "yea,  our  couch  is  green,  lit. : 
"  greens,  grows  green  "  (njJV"^)  a  reference  to 
the  stately,  verdant,  and  refreshing  natural  sur- 
roundings, in  the  midst  of  which  to  their  delight 
their  loving  intercourse  now  takes  place,  and 
perhaps  more  particularly  to  a  shady  grassplot 
under  the  trees  of  the  park,  upon  which  they 
were  for  the  moment  sitting  or  reclining ;  comp. 
§  1  above,  and  Weissb.  in  loc.  In  opposition  to 
Henqstenb.,  who  takes    V}'})!_    iu  the  sense  of 


60 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II.  7. 


"marriage-bed,"  and  ]^2  in  a  purely  figura- 
tive sense  of  a  gladsonre  and  flourisliing  condi- 
tion, may  be  urged  that  no  mention  can  be  made 
of  a  marriage-bed  for  Shulamitii  and  Solomon 
before  their  nuptials,  which  are  not  described 
until  iii.  0,  etc. ;  likewise  the  contents  of  the  fol- 
lowing verses,  especially  ii.  1-3,  which  point  to 
a  continued  stay  of  the  lovers  in  the  open  air, 
under  shady  ti-ees,  and  beside  fragrant  flowers  * 
Ver.  17.  The  beams  of  our  houses  are  ce- 
dars, our  vrainscoting  cypress-trees.  Tliis 
can  neitiier  be  the  language  of  the  "choir  of 
women  belonging  to  the  harem"  (Bottcuek), 
whose  entrance  here  would  be  to  the  last  de- 
gree disturbing ;  nor  even  of  Solomon  (Hitzig, 
Weissb.,  Ren.)  to  whom  the  beauty  of  the  place 
where  they  are,  is  a  matter  of  perfect  indiffer- 
ence, by  reason  of  the  rapture  with  which  he 
regards  his  beloved ;  but  only  that  of  Shulamith, 
the  innocent,  light-hearted  child  of  nature,  who 
has  just  begun  to  express  her  pleasure  in  that 
lovely  spot  in  the  open  air,  to  which  her  lover  had 
conducted  her,  and  whose  words  would  sound  quite 
unfinished  and  end  abruptly  if  nothing  further 
were  added  to  the  commendation  of  their  verdant 
couch. — "Cedars"  and  "cypresses,"  also  named 
together  Isa.  xiv.  8:  Zech.  xi.  '2,  as  costly  species 
of  wood  for  building  and  stately,  lofty  trees,  are 
here  evidently  meant  in  the  literal  sense,  of  liv- 
ing trees  of  this  description,  such  as  were  to  be 
found,  along  with  other  rare  and  noble  plants, 
in  the  royal  gardens  of  a  king  so  skilled  in  na- 
ture and  so  fond  of  splendor.  The  figurative 
part  of  her  language  lies  rather  in  the  "  beams  " 
and    the  "  wainscoting"   (O'DTIT    from    Om  ^ 


Ar. 


'  to    hew,"    hence  =  laquearia    of 


the  VuLG.,  wainscoting  on  walls  and  ceilings — 
not  "pillars,"  Weissb.,  nor  "rafters,"  Vat.\bl. 
and  L.  Cappei.l,  [so  E.  V.],  nor  "floor,"  Heng- 
gTENBEUG,  who  prefers  the  K'ri  D'O'ni).     She, 

who  had  hitherto  been  without  Solomon  in  the 
showy  apartments  of  the  palace,  felicitates  her- 
self that  she  can  now  rest  with  him  under  the 
green  trees  of  the  garden,  which  seem  to  her  to 
arch  over  them  a  far  finer  ceiling  than  those 
richly  adorned  halls.  It  is  impossible  to  recon- 
cile the  mention  of  cedars,  which  only  grew 
wild  in  Lebanon,  not  in  central  or  northern 
Palestine,  and  consequently  not  in  the  vicinity  of 
Shunem,  with  the  shepherd  hypothesis,  whose 
advocates  here  find  expressed  Shulamith's  long- 

*  ["  The  scene  seems  to  be  luid  in  the  kiosk  or  summer- 
house  in  the  royal  garden.  The  green  flowery  turt  is  our 
place  of  repo.se;  our  canopy  is  cedar  interspersed  witli  tir, 
richly  carved."  Burrowes.  Better  still,  Good  :  The  lovers 
are  not  in  a  liouse,  hut  a  grove,  where  the  spreading  branches 
of  the  lirs  and  the  cedars  are  poetically  called  the  beams  and 
the  roof  of  their  chamber.  Thus  Milton,  describing  Adam's 
bower,  Pir.  Lost.,  iv.  69:J,  comp.  HoMKft  tl.,  xxiv.  lyl.  H,\R- 
MER  supposes  ver.  IG  to  be  the  language  of  the  liride,  and  ver. 
17  that  of  the  bridegroom.  She  commends  the  ruml  beauty 
of  the  spot  in  which  they  then  were.  lie,  impatient  to  intro- 
duce her  to  his  palace,  replies  in  eubatjince :  "  Arise,  my  love, 
and  (juit  this  phoce,  pleasant  -an  it  is.  for  equally  pleasant  and 
much  more  ctmimodious  will  you  tind  the  abode  to  which  I 
am  conveying  you,  it  being  built  of  the  fragrant  cedar,  and  of 
other  precious  wood."  PooLR,  with  many  others,  supposes 
the  nuptial  bed  to  be  referred  to  "miorned  with  green  gar- 
lands or  boughs."  AlNswoRTlI :  "  Green  is  not  meant  bo 
much  of  color  iw  of  flourishing  growth  and  increase."] 


ing  for  the  verdure  and  shade  of  her  home  (t.  g 
EwALU,  Vaih.). 

9.  Shulamith  and  Solomon,  ii.  1-7. 

Ver.  1.  Shi'lahith  :  lam  (only)  a  ■wild 
flower  of  Sharon,  a  lily  of  the  valleys. 
The  connection  with  the  preceding  is  not  to  be 
denied  altogether  (with  Delitzsch,  who  makes  a 
new  scene  begin  with  this  verse) ;  still  we  must 
assume  a  pause  of  some  length  after  i.  17, 
during  which  Shulamith  who  continues  to  tarry 
in  the  garden  at  the  side  of  her  lover,  reflects 
upon  her  great  good  fortune  in  being  selected  to 
be  the  darling  of  the  king,  and  by  the  comparison 
of  the  splendor  which  now  surrounds  her  wifii 
the  meadows  and  valleys  of  her  home  is  disposed 
to  humility  and  at  the  same  time  filled  with  long- 
ing for  that  simpler  condition  which  she  must 
forsake.  She  gives  an  artless  as  well  as  a  deli- 
cate and  striking  expression  to  these  feelings  by 
calling  herself  ''a  wild-flower,"  a  "lily  of  the 
valleys,"  which  was  not  congruous  to  the  many 
ornamental  plants  and  artistic  beauties  of  the 
royal  court.*  — Which    flower    of    the   plain    of 

Sharon  is  intended  by  int^n  nSxan,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine.  Its  identity  with  the  "  lily 
of  the  valley  "  (Sept.,  Vulg.,  and  Takq.  on  Isa. 
XXXV.  1,  the  only  other  passage   of  the   0.  Test. 

in  which  nVxDn  occurs),  [Crah.,  lily  ;  so  Lee], 
is  contr.adicled  by  its  being  mentioned  in  a  paral- 
lel with  it.  a  circumstance  which  requires  us  to 
tliink   of  some   similar  plant,   but  one  which   is 

■specifically  different  from  it.  If  r\7S3n  were 
really  connected  with  VDn,  "to  be  red"  (comp. 
VIDn  red,  Isa.  Ixiii.  1),  as  HiTZio,  Weissb.,  etc., 
assume,  the  simplest  course  would  be  with  A<jdila 
and  R.  Kimchi  on  Isa.  xxxv.  1,  to  translate  it 
"rose,"  [so  Bish.,  Genev.,  E.  Ver.],  and  then 
to  compare  the  combination  of  rose  and  lily  in 
Ecclus.  xxxix.  13,  14  as  probably  drawn  from 
this  passage.  But  another  etymology,  which  sup- 
poses the  word  to  be  in  some  manner  compounded 

with  7X3  onion  (whether  n  is  prefixed,  which 
serves  to  form  quadrilaterals,  or  the  adj.  ypn 
"sour,"  lurks  in  its  initial  letters),  points  rather 
to  some  bulbous  plant,  perhaps  the  meadow- 
saffron,  which  the  Old  Syriac  seems  to  have  in- 
tended (comp.  Mich.,  Ewald,  Gesenius,  etc.), 
[so  lloYLE,  Wordsworth,  Notes  and  Thri'pp. 
wlio  however  translates  it  "  daisy  "],  or  the  tniip 
(Velthi?sf.n,  Magn  ,  Vaih.),  or  the  narci>'sus, 
for  whicli  last  the  Targ.  already  testifies  with  iis 
DlplJ.  As  no  one  of  these  significations  can  be 
demonstrated  with  absolute  certainty,  it  may  be 
most  advisable  with  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  to  abide 
by  the  indefinite    "flower"    [so  Gov., Dow.],  or 

*  [P.ITRICK,  Poo'.E  and  Dowav  follow  WlcurpE  and  Matth- 
ews in  making  ver.  1  the  language  of  the  bridegroom.  The 
greiit  body  of  commentators  with  better  reason  assign  it  to 
the  bride!  Buerowes:  "Reclining  thus  on  a  bed  of  gnisK 
and  flowers,  the  beloved  and  the  bride  naturally  speak  of  each 
other  in  language  drawn  from  the  beautiful  objects  under 
their  notice."  Still  more  appropriately  Williams  :  "  The 
spouse  with  the  most  beautiful  productions  of  the  royal  gar- 
den in  her  view,  ventures  to  compare  herself,  not  with  them, 
but  with  the  more  bumble  natives  of  the  fields  and  valleys.  ' 
Tlie  "  longing,"  which  ZocKLBR  here  finds  for  her  home  a.oti 
former  buinltle  station,  belongs  purely  to  his  theory  of  the 
plot  in  the  Song,  and  has  no  place  in  the  text  itself.— Tk.  | 


I.  I— II.  7. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON 


61 


••wild-flower"  [soWiTHi.vGXON.GiNSBnRo].  Also 
in  regard  to  the  name  Sharon  pit?,  it  cannot  be 
said  decisively,  whether  it  denotes  the  well- 
knovra  plain  along  the  coast  between  Cesarea 
and  Joppa  (Acts  ix.  35),  or  the  'rans-jordaaic 
plain  named  1  Chron.  v.  16,  or  finally  a  third 
rneadow-land  of  Sharon  between  Tabor  and  the 
lake  of  Gennesaret  mentioned  by  Eusebius  in  the 
Onomast.  This  last  might  perhaps  be  most  rea- 
dily  thought   of  on    account    of  its   vicinity  to 

Shunem.*— Further  [ntjn  nSs^n  is,  notwith- 
standing the  article  before  [lit?,  to  be  trans- 
lated "a  wild-flower  of  Sharon"  (comp.  Gen. 
ix.  20;  XKXV.  16;  Jer.  xiii.  4,  etc.),  and 
no  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  this  ex- 
pression in  favor  of  the  allegorical  explanation 
of  Shulamith  as  the  Church  (against  He.noste.n- 
BERG).f — -In  both  these  comparisons,  that  with 
the  flower  of  Sharon,  and  that  with  the  lily  (by 
which  must  be  meant  not  the  strongly  scented 
Hlium  candidum,  but  rather  as  appe.ars  from 
i.  -5,  6  ;  V.  1.3  the  Palestine  red  lily,  liliiim  rubens 
of  Pliny  H.  N.  xxi.  5),  the  terlium  coniparat.  is 
both  the  diminutive  size  of  these  plants  com- 
pared with  cedars,  cypresses,  etc.,  and  also  their 
l)eauty  and  elegance  (Matt.  vi.  28;  Luke  xii. 
27),  so  that,  although  Shulamith  refers  to  her 
lowliness  and  rural  simplicity,  she  yet  says  no- 
tliing  derogatory  to  herself,^  and  quite  in  ana- 
lo'^y  with  i.  .5  manifests  a  certain  self-regard 
though  genuinely  modest,  and  pure  as  a  cliild. 

Ver.  2.  As  a  lily  among  thorns,  so  is  my 
dear  among  the  daughters.  That  which  had 
l)';en  to  Shulamith  an  expression  of  her  lowliness 
is  seized  upon  by  Solomon  with  courtly  skill  in 
order  to  bring  out  of  it  the  more  emphatic  praise 
of  her  grace  and  beauty.  .More  strongly  almost 
than  afterwards  in  vi.  8,  9  he  puts  all  other  wo- 
m«n  in  the  sliade  in  comparison  with  his  chosen 
one,  likening  them  to  thorns,  tlio  well-known 
Hgure  of  whatever  is  mean,  troublesome  and  of- 
fensive (comp.  .Tudg.  ix.  14;  2  Kin.  xiv.  9;  Isa. 
vii.  2.3,  ff.;  xxxii.  l5;  Iv.  13;  Ezek.  ii.  G;  xxviii. 
24;  Ho3.  ix.  6;  X.  8;  Ps.  Iviii.  10:  Prov.  xxii. 
'>,  etc).  [NoYES  :  "  It  is  not  implied  that  the  lily 
grows  among  thorns,  but  that  his  love  surpassed 
other  women  as  much  as  the  lily  the  thorn." 
Moody  Stuakt  quotes  the  following  as  illustra-  i 
i 

•  [HenostenbbRG  argues  that  "the  valleys,"  whk-h  corres- 
pond in  the  parallelism  with  "  Sharon,"  must  alfli>  have  the 
force  of  a  proper  name,  and  on  tlie  j;round  ot  1  Ohron.  xii.  15, 
lie  decides  that  the  valleys  on  either  side  of  the  Jordan  are  re- 
ferred to.  Gov.,  tiENEVv,  Dow.\T,  Fry,  TtiRUPP,  With.,  Gins., 
follow  the  LX.K  in  giving  to  Sharon  an  appellative  sense ; 
meadow,  field  or  plain.  The  par.\lleli.sm  is,  of  course,  not  suf- 
liiMent  to  justify  either  conclusion,  iimn  tiiuls  an  allusion 
here  to  her  birth-place;  "she  was  not  of  Egyptian  origin,  or 
loyal  descent,  but  a  rose  of  the  fields  of  Sharon — jt  native  of 
Palestine."  Of  coui-se  the  famous  Sharon  must  he  the  one  in- 
tended in  such  a  passage  na  this. — Tr.] 

t  [The  article  is  always  definite  in  Hebrew  ;  and  the  only 
correct  translation  is  therefore,  *' i/ie  flower  of  Sharon,"  where 
the  article,  however,  ia  not  to  be  taken  in  an  eminent  or  ex- 
clusive sense,  "Cic  flower  "  par  excf.l^erKe  (as  Wordsworth; 
tin  flower  of  the  whole  earth ;  Dow  VY  ;  the  flower  of  mankind) 
but  has  its  generic  sense,  as  is  usual  in  comparisons.  We  may 
in  conformity  with  our  idiom  substitute  our  indefinite  for  the 
Hebrew  definite  article  in  such  cases,  but  this  is  by  way  of 
paraphrase,  not  exact  ti-anslr.tion.  See  Grken'.^  Heb.  Gram,  i 
■IV\  a,  d.— Tr.) 

*  If  n  7V3n  really  tneint   the  "saffron."   C\jhhicum   au- 
iumriale,  the  comparison  would  contain  what  was  damaging 
.lUil  def^radiu.;  to  Sbiilariiitli  ;  hut  tins  i^  not  admissible  on  I 
»,;couui    'f  the  pHr.illfl,  ''lily  of  the  valleys."  1 


five  from  Bonar:  "Close  by  these  lilies  ther* 
grew  several  of  the  thorny  shrubs  of  the  desert; 
but  above  them  rose  the  lily  spreading  out  its 
fresli  green  leaf  as  a  contrast  lo  the  dingy  ver- 
dure of  Ihe-se  prickly  shrubs."]  With  the  trans- 
lation "rose  "  [so  Cot'.,  Cr.\n  ]  (which  is  more- 
over absolutely  inadmissible,  since  the  fem. 
riiC'lB'  must  unquestionably  have  a  sense  like 
that  of  the  masc.  [E'ltj  or  WW  "lily")  the 
strong  contrast  intended  would  almost  entirely 
vanish,  for  tlie  thorns  serve  only  to  adorn  tlie 
rose.  Kenan  regards  this  verse  and  ver.  7  as 
spoken  by  the  shepherd  (!)  entering  here  for  the 
lirst  time  ["entrant  brusquement  en  sc>ne"){ 
[GiNSBORO  imagines  that  i.  1.5  is  also  spoken  by 
this  imaginary  shepherd. — Tr. ] 

Ver.  3.  As  an  apple-tree  among  the  trees 
of  the  Tvood,  so  is  my  beloved  among  the 
sons.  Observe  the  exact  parallelism  of  this 
sentence  with  ver.  2.  Shulamith  gives  back  the 
flattering  commendation  of  her  lover  with  a  still 
closer  adherence  to  his  expressions  than  above 
in  i.  Ifj,  and  thus  their  conversation  assumes  the 
appearance  of  a  "contest  of  mutually  eulogistio 
love"  (Delitzsch).  The  reference  of  Shula- 
mith's  language  to  an  absent  lover,  whom  sho 
praises  in  opposition  to  Solomon,  who  is  indiffer- 
ent or  repulsive  to  her  (Ew.,  HiTZ.,  Vaih.,  etc), 
destroys  the  simple  beauty  of  the  dialogue.  It 
is  inadmissible  to  understand  by  the  "apple 
tree  (H'SH,  Sept.  fif/'kov)  some  nobler  fruit  tree 
than  the  common  Pyrus  malus,  as  for  instance,  the 
quince  [Pyrus  cydotiia),  or  the  citron  [malnsmedica) 
[so  Good,  Williams,  Tatlok,  Thrupp,  With.], 
or  the  orange  (as  is  done  by  Celsius  in  his 
Ilierobot.  Velthus.,  Rosenm.,  Van  Kooten,  etc.), 
on  account  of  I  he  mention  made  immediately  afler- 
w:irds  (ver.  3(/,  and  ver.  6)  of  the  sweet  fruit  of  the 
tr,^e,  because  those  acquainted  with  the  East  in 
former  as  well  as  in  more  recent  times  commend 
even  the  common  apples  of  Syria  and  Palestine 
as  an  exceedingly  generous  fruit,  of  fine  flavor 
and  a  pleasing  fragrance  (comp.  Harmer, 
Observationti,  etc.,),  and  because  the  compa- 
ratively rare  occurrence  of  n'3i^  in  the  Old 
Test.,  and  its  combination  with  the  fig,  pome- 
granate, palm,  etc.  (Joel  i.  12;  comp.  Sol.  Song 
vii.  9;  viii.  5)  point  to  its  belonging  to  the 
nobler  fruit -bearing  plants  of  the  flora  of  an- 
cient Israel.  [Wordsworth  :  It  is  a  generic  word 
(like  malum  in  Latin),  and  may  include  the  citron 
and  lemon]. — In  his  shadow  delighted  I  sit, 
lit.,  "  I  delight  and  sit"  ('i^^u/'l  ''l")?!?)  [C.iss.: 
I  delight  to  sit  "],  a  construction  like  l"l3"2n  K^ir) 
1  Sam.  ii.  3,  where  the  first  verb  seems  to  have 
only  an  adverbial  force  and  the  second  expresses 
the  principal  idf'a,*  comp.  also  below  iv.  8  ;  v.  6, 
and  EwxLi),  Lehrbuch,  ^  285,  b.  [Green's  Heb. 
Gram.  ^  269].  Further  it  is  no  more  neces- 
sary to  take  these  verbs  in  a  preterite  sense  here 
(Ewald,  Hitz.,  etc.)  than  in  i.  12.  [strictly:  I 
have  been  sitting  and  still  sit. — Tr.],  so  that  this 
passage  supplies  no  valid  argument  in  favorof  the 
shepherd  hypothesis.     In  the  figure  of  the  sha- 

*  [WoRDSW.  preserves  the  distinct  verbal  forco  of  both 
words:  "I  long  for  his  shadow  and  sit  beneath  it."  Cov.; 
"My  delight  is  to  sit  under  his  shadow."  Knq.  Ver.;  "I  sat 
doAvn  under  his  sh:idow  with  great  delight."  Geneva:  "Un- 
der his  sa.idow  I  had  delight  and  sat  down."] 


e2 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II. 


iow  the  point  of  comparison  is  not  tlie  pro- 
tection afforded  (as  e.  g.  Ps.  xvii.  8;  xci.  1 ;  Isa. 
XXT.  4,  etc.),  but  the  refreshing  and  reviving  in- 
fluence of  the  nearness  of  her  lover,  just  as  the 
eweet  fruit  of  the  apple-tree  serves  to  represent 
his  agreeable  caresses,  so  iv.  16;  vii.  l-t  (comp. 
Weissb.  !»  toe). 

Ver.  i.  He  has  brought  me  into  his  vrine 
bouse,     r'n   n"3   must  be  the  same  essentially 

as  I'TI  nnC'O  n'3.  that  is  to  say,  a  room  or 
apartment  for  drinking  wine,  a  banquet  hall 
[Eno.  Ver.],  not  a  ••  wine  shop"  {!  Bottch.),  or 
a  "wine  cellar"  (Vulg.  :  "  cella  vinaria,"  Luth., 
Ren.,  etc.),  [Cov.,  Ce.\n.,  Genev.,  Dow.^y,  Wil- 
liams], or  a  "vine-arbor"  (Vaih.,  etc.),  or  a 
"vineyard"  (Ew.vld,  Heiliqst.,  etc).  But  so 
surely  as  the  expressions  in  the  context,  espe- 
cially the  "fruit"  of  the  apple-treein  ver.  3(/,  and 
the  "  banner  "  in  4  i,  are  to  be  understood  figura- 
tively, with  the  same  certainty  must  the  literal 
interpretation  of  "  leading  into  the  wine  room" 
be  rejected,  and  the  sense  of  this  expression 
must  be  found  rather  in  an  increased  participa- 
tion in  the  sweet  tokens  of  his  love,  an  intoxica- 
tion  from   caresses  (already  essentially  correct 

RUPERTI,     DiiDERL.,     GeSENICS,    DoPKE,    WeISSB  , 

etc.).  [So  Good,  NoYES.  GiN.s. :  "bower  of  de- 
light."] The  words  need  therefore  neither  be 
taken  as  a  wish  (Sept.,  Fianyiiy^ri  fie  eli  oiaov  tov 
oliinv,  Velth.,  Am.m.,  Hug,  U.iibreit,  etc.),  [so 
Good,  Fry],  nor  as  a  narrative  of  what  her 
country  lover  had  previously  done  with  her 
(EwALD,  Vaih.,  Bottcher),  nor  as  the  enthusi- 
astic exclamation  of  a  lady  of  the  harem,  who 
was  now  embraced  by  Solomon  instead  of  the 
coy  Shulamith  (! !  HiTZ  ),  etc.  There  is  no  alter- 
native but  to  regard  it  as  a  figurative  description 
of  the  love  which  she  had  experienced  from 
Solomon,  h.aving  its  most  exact  analogon  in  i.  4 
b,  "  the  kiug  has  brought  me  into  his  chambers." 
— And  his  banner  over  me  is  love,  t.  c.  not 
"he  bears  his  love  as  an  ensign  before  me  who 
follow  him"  (Gkotius.  Hitzig,  Weissb.,  etc.),  [so 
Notes,  Thritpp,  etc.],  but  "love  waves  as  a  pro- 
tecting and  comforting  banner  over  my  head 
(Ps.  XX.  6)  when  I  am  near  him  "  So  correctly 
DoPKE,  Del.,  [Wordsw.,  Burrowes];  .also  Ew- 
ALD,  Vaih.,  etc.,  only  the  latter  here  again  find 
described   the   love    formerly  enjoyed  with   her 

shepherd  in  the  country.  The  banner  {'.i"}.)  is, 
wherever  it  occurs  in  the  Old  Test.,  n  military 
figure  (comp.  besides  Ps.  xx.  6,  also  Num.  i.  52; 
ii.  2,  ff ).  It  must  accordingly  be  explained 
here  too  in  this  sense,  and  not  with  BiixTCHER 
of  the  sign  before  a  wine  shop  (a  tavern  sign- 
board !).* 

Ver.  •').  Stay  me  with  grapes,  refresh  me 
'With  apples.  The  caresses  of  the  king,  who 
is  clasping  and  embracing  her  (see  ver.  b)  pro- 
duce an  effect  upon  one  so  ardent  in  her  love, 
which  even  if  not  "thoroughly  agitating"  (De- 
LITZSCii),  or  "taking  away  her  breath  and  almost 
stifling"  (Hoelem),    is   yet   powerfully  exciting 


•[The  meaning  of  this  clause  is  well  expressed  Iiy  Cover- 
bale:  He  lovetb  mespociallvwell.  Dowwhas:  He  hath  or- 
dered in  me  rhastity.  I'arkiiur-it,  without  reason,  supposes 
a  reference  to  "  a  light  or  lamp,  such  ax  was  carried  lieforo  the 
new-married  couple  on  the  evening  of  their  wedding,  comp. 
Vull  XXV.  1,  2."J 


and  as  it  were  intoxicating,  and  directly  wakens 
in  her,  probably  for  the  first  time  since  she  came 
to  the  court,  the  consciousness  that  she  is  sick 
of  love  (comp.  v.  8),  and  therefore  needs  to  be 
strengthened  by  eating  some  refreshing  fruit,  or 
something  of  the  sort.  She  directs  her  request 
for  it,  as  is  shown  by  the  plurals  'J03D  (liter- 
ally, fulcite  me,  support  me ;  comp.  Gen.  xxvii. 
37 ;  Ps.  civ.  15),  "JIIS"!,  not  to  her  lover  himself 
(Weissb.),  but  to  the  ladies  of  the  court  near 
her,  to  whom  also  the  lively  exclamation,  ver.  7, 
is  uttered.  /llty'iyX  are  neither  aromatic  un- 
guents (Sept.,  fivpa),  nor  flowers  (Vulg  :  fulcite 
me  florihus  [so  Dowat]  ;  so  too  Stmm.,  etc.),  but 
agreeably  to  its  probable  derivation  from  E/E'X 
"to  found,  'o  make  firm"  (see  Knobel  on  Isa. 
xlvi.  8),  pressed  grapes,  and  so  perhaps  wine 
^yrup,  or  better  raisin  cakes,  grape  cakes,  which 
is  favored  both  by  the  verb  ^OD  and  by  the  use 
of  the  word  in  Hos.  iii.  1  (where  the  Sept.  trans- 
late, TCfi/ia-a),  and  in  2  Sam.  vi.  19  (Sept.  : 
Aayavov  dwb  Tfp/di'ov,  pancakes). 

Ver.  6.  His  left  hand  is  under  my  bead 
and  his  right  embraces  me.  'Jpsnil  must 
mot  be  taken  in  the  optative  here  any  more  than 
in  viii.  3,  where  the  entire  passage  recurs,  as 
though  the  sentence  expressed  a  wish,  "let  his 
left  hand  be  under  my  head  and  his  right  em- 
I  brace  me"*  (Ewald,  Vaih.,  Weissb.,  f/c,  [so 
GiNSB.]. —  This  is  contradicted  by  the  whole 
situation  as  well  in  this  passage  as  in  viii.  3. 
On  the  score  of  language  too  it  is  simpler 
and  more  natural  to  understand  it  as  an  indica- 
tive. 

Ver.  7.  "  I  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of 
Jerusalem,"  etc.  In  favor  of  Shulamith  as  the 
speaker  in  these  closing  words,  it  may  be  said ; 
1.  That  she  is  unmistakably  the  speaker  of  these 
words  in  iii.  5  and  viii.  4,  where  as  here  they 
introduce  a  "  pause  in  the  action  "  of  considera- 
ble length  (Ewald).  2.  That  Shulamith  already 
addressed  the  ladies  of  the  court  in  ver.  5,  who 
must  accordingly  be  supposed  to  be  near  at  hand 
as  spectators  of  her  joy.  3.  That  what  she  has 
said  of  her  being  "sick  of  love"  prepared  the 
way  for  this  adjuration,  and  the  latter  is  well- 
nigh  unintelligible  without  reference  to  the  for- 
mer. We  may  from  the  outset,  therefore,  repel 
the  attempts  to  treat  the  verse  as  the  language 
of  the  queen  mother,  who  enters  here  (!  BtixTCH.), 
or  of  the  celestial  Solomon  (Hengstenb.,  after 
many  older  expositors  as  Starke,  Jo.  Lanoe, 
etc.),  or  of  the  poet  (Umbr.,  Hitzig),!  or. 
finally  of  the  shepherd  speaking  to  the  chorus 
(1  Renan).  "I  adjure  you,"  literally,  I  cause 
you  (as  much  as  in  me  is)  to  swear,  I  exact 
from  you  the  s.acred  promise,  I  earnestly  beg 
you. J     Compare    Gen.   1.  5;    Num.    v.    I'J.     By 

*  fTnaOPP  insists  on  the  future  sense :  The  time  shall  come 
when  that  sickness  of  love,  of  which  I  now  complain,  shall  be 
solaced  and  satisfied.  TxrioR  makes  vers.  4-i;  the  proUwis  of 
the  sentence  completed  in  ver.  7,  "  when  he  brings  me,  etc., 
when  his  loft  hand  is,  elc,  I  adjure  you,"  etc.] 

t  [tliLL,  Patrick,  SeoTT  and  Williams  make  this  the  lan- 
guaKC  of  the  bridegroom  ;  the  great  body  of  English  commen. 
tators  refer  it  to  the  bride. — Tr.] 

JfWlTHlNGTON,  in  accordance  with  his  supposition  that  the 
bride  is  the  daughter  of  an  .\rah  chief,  whose  adjuration  ie 
conseipiently  by  the  roes  and  hinds  of  her  native  fields,  re- 
marks:  "The  semi-paipinism  of  the  oath  is  extremely  naiu 


1. 1— II. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


(^3 


the  gazelles  or  by  the  hinds  of  the  field. 

Tlie.se  animils  are  not  named  in  the  adju- 
ration, because  animals  generally  in  contrast  with 
men  have  "  fixed  annual  rutting  seasons"  (  Hitzig  ; 
likewise  also  Herdkk  and  others) ;  nor  because 
the  ladies  of  Jerusalem  w -re  in  the  habit  of 
keeping  little  pet  gazelles  (J.  D.  Mien.)'  "»>''.  ^^ 
account  of  the  resemblance  of  HIXDV  and  m^''X 
mOT    to    the    divine   names    m'Xli'   mtT'    and 

VT  -  T  :  T     : 

D'D'Jn  TISk  (Weissb.);  but  doubtless  on  account 
of  their  pretty  and  graceful  appearance  (comp. 
Prov.  V.  19),  which  mikes  these  animals  in  par- 
ticular fit  symbols  of  tender  and  ideal  love,  and 
must  make  them  especially  dear  to  women  in 
this  point  of  view.  Comp.  particularly  Dopke 
in  he,  likewise  Ewald  :  "  In  common  life  people 
swore  by  things,  which  belonged  to  the  subject 
of  conversation,  or  were  especially  dear  to  the 
speaker.  As  therefore  the  warrior  swears  by 
his  sword,  as  Mohammed  by  the  soul  of  which  lie 
is  just  about  to  speak  (Ivor.  ch.  xci.  7),  so  here 
Shularaith  by  the  lovely  gazelles  since  she  is  spea- 
king of  love."* — That  ye  wake  not  nor  awa- 
ken love  until  it  please.  n'j;n  DX,  literally, 
"if ye  wake,"  efc.  (Ewalu.  ^  320,  b),  [Green's 
Heb.  Chrestomathy  on  Gen.  xlii.  15].  The  verb  is 
here  masc,  corresponding  to  D3J^.^  in  a,  not  be- 
cause the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  were  not  re:il 
female  personalities,  as  IIkxgstenberq  [so  too 
Wordsworth]  iasists,  but  because  the  primary 
gender  is  here  used  as  common,  as  in  ver.  5 
above,  and  Judg.  iv.  20;  Isa.  xxxii.  11;  and 
frequently  in  the  imperative.  [Turupp  explains 
it  by  •'  the  general  iudefinitencss  of  the  character 
which  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  as  members 
of  the  chorus  here  sustain  "  But  see  Green's 
Heb.  Gram.  §  275,  5. — Tr.] — H^H.'^H  is  certainly 
not  "  the  loved  one,"  as  though  the  warning  here 
were  not  wantonly  to  wake  Shulamitli  who  had 
fallen  asleep  (Vclg.  d/lectam,  8yr.,  Gesen., 
Ewald,  Kosenm.,  IIengstenb.,  Renan  and  J.  D. 
Mighaelis  who  for  the  sake  of  tliis  sense  points 

nnnXT),  but  as  this  meauinc;  would  be   in   the 

T\ -:t''  ° 

higaest  degree  unsuit^.ble  in  the  parallel  passa- 
ges iii.  5  and  viii.  4,  and  as  love  as  .an  ethical 
idea  comes  significantly  forward  elsewhere  in 
this  poem  (vii.  7  and  viii.  G  f. ),  it  is  manifestly 
love  itself  as  a  passion  slumbering  in  the  heart, 
which  it  would  not  do  over-curiously  to  rouse  or 
kindle  to  a  flame,  runxn  I'^H  cannot  possibly 
mean  "  disturbing  love  "  before  it  has  attained 
full  satisfaction  of  its  desire  for  converse  with 
the  beloved  object  (Delitzscu,  Weissb. J,  for  it 
certainly  expresses  something  analogous  to  "^'J-'H 

ral."  Moody  Stdart:  "This  is  no  oath  by  the  hinds  of  the 
fields,  but  a  solemn  charge  with  the  strength  of  an  oath," 
W'lLLi  VM8  infers,  from  a  comparison  of  (rcn.  xxi.  30,  that  the 
"  antelopes  and  hinds  of  the  field  "  are  referred  to  as  witnesses 
of  this  solemn  adjuration  made  in  their  presence. — Tr.] 

[*  Henry  ;  "  Hhe  gives  them  this  charge  by  everything  that 
ie  amiable  in  their  eyes  and  dear  to  them."  Fry  :  "The  bride 
bids  her  attendants  tu  be  cautious  not  to  disturb  or  call  off  the 
attention  of  lier  husband,  whose  society  she  has  so  coveted, 
fts  though  tliey  were  approaching  the  giizelles  or  the  deer 
of  the  plain."  Taylor  and  Bdbrowes  likewise  find  the  point 
of  tlvi  allusion  in  the  timorousue.ss  of  thes^  animals.  CIill 
and  Scott  combine  both :  "  They  are  gentle  and  pleasant 
creatures,  but  exceedingly  timorous."  Words.:  "The  roes 
and  hinds  love  their  mates  with  tender  affection  and  steadfast 
reliance  and  will  not  disturb  them  in  their  shimbers."! 


nX3p  "stir  up  jealousy"  Isa.  xlii.  13,  and  the 
Pi.  '^'^ij?,  which  is  added  to  strengthen  it,  always 
and  only  has  the  sense  of  exciting  or  awakening 
€.  g.  strife,  Prov.  x.  12,  strength  or  power,  P^. 
Ixxx.  3,  etc.  Comp.  also  irritata  voluplas^  irrila- 
menta  amoris  seu  veneris  in  Latin  poets  (e.  y.  Ovid, 
de  arte  am.  2,  681;  Metam.  9,  133;  Juven.  11, 
1G5) ;  although  here  we  are  certainly  not  to 
think  of  any  magic  charms  or  philters  to  inflame 
love  or  lust,  such  as  love  apples.  Gen.  xxx.  14,  etc.^ 
or  quinces  (Bottcher).     The  meaning  of  the  ad- 

'  monition  is  rather  simply  this  :  "■  Plunge  not  rasii 
and  unbidden  into  the  passion  of  love,  that  is  to 
s;iy  not  before  love  awakes  of  itself  (till  heart  is 
joined  to  heart,  till  God  Himself  awakens  in  yot. 
an  aifection  for  the  right  man),  be  not  forward 
to  excite  it  in  your  hearts  by  frivolous  coquetry 
or  loose  amorous  arts."  This  caution  may  in 
some  measure  be  regarded  as  the  moral  of  tije 
entire  poem,  inasmuch  as  it  aims  at  the  preser- 
vation of  the  chaste,  truly  moral,  and  conse- 
quently truly  natural,  character   of  love.     It  is, 

I  therefore,  most  suitably  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Shulamith  as  the  bearer  or  representative  of  such 
pure  ethical  love  in  contrast  with  the  women  of  So- 
lomon's court.*    Comp.  the  like  sentence  viii.  7  6. 

*  [  This  surely  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  satisfactory  expla- 
nation of  this  ditKcult  verse.  The  spontaneity  of  love,  which 
no  effort  must  be  nuule  to  awaken,  but  which  must  be  excited 
nf  itself,  so  far  from  being  accounted  a  worthy  lesson  of  di- 
vine revehition,  is  not  even  a  doctrine  of  ethics,  and  would  re- 
(juire  considerable  qualification  before  it  could  be  admitted  to 
be  sound  rational  advice.  If  inspired  instruction  were  to  be 
given  on  the  subject  of  conjugal  love,  and  a  wliole  book  de- 
voted to  the  treatment  of  it,  we  might  reasonably  expect  that 
its  constancy,  purity  and  strength  would  bo  prominently 
dwelt  upon,  that  due  attention  would  be  paid  to  the  quaUties 
on  which  it  should  be  based,  the  affectionate  oflBccs  by  whidi 
it  should  be  mainfciined,  and  the  holy  principles  by  which  it 
should  be  regulated.  But  instead  of  all  this  tho  one  thing  in- 
sisted upon  is  tliat  love  must  be  spontaneous  and  unsolicited. 
AVliat  is  this  but  to  convert  it  into  heedless,  inconsiderate 
pa;5riion,  the  spring  of  ill-judged  attachments,  which  prove  j^ 
inharmonious  in  their  issue  as  they  were  irrational  in  iheir 
origin?  This  is,  besides,  a  very  difiereut  thing  from  tiie 
thcDie  of  this  book,  as  Zockler  hioiself  conceives  and  repn-- 
sents  it,  wliich  is  the  commendation  of  a  pure  and  chaste  con- 
jugal affection  as  opposed  to  the  dissuluteuess  and  sensuality 
fostered  by  polyg-amy.  It  would  also  be  a  most  extraordina- 
ry admonition  for  ShiUamith  to  tho  daughters  of  Jerus;ileju, 
among  whom,  according  to  Zockler's  hypothesis  were  the 
wives  of  Solomon,  married  to  him  long  before  Shulamith  had 
ever  seen  him. 

Then  besides  the  feebleness  and  lnapproi)riateness  of  the 
sense  obtained,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  language  of  the 
verse  can  be  made  to  yield  it.  The  expressions  thus  explained 
are  exceedingly  vague.  There  is  nothing  tu  indicate  in 
whom  they  are  cautioned  nut  to  awaken  love,  whether  in 
themselves  or  others ;  or  in  what  way — may  they  not  in  any 
way  seek  to  win  another's  affection  or  to  excito  their  own, 
not  even  by  exhibiting  or  discerning  what  is  worthy  of  re- 
gard ?  And  "  till  it  (».  e.,  love)  please,"  is  to  say  the  least  an 
unexampled  phrase.  It  is  a  very  singular  form  of  speech  for 
any  one  to  adopt :  "  do  not  excite  a  passion  until  that  passion 
is  willing  to  be  excited," 

Of  the  English  commentators,  who  take  "love  "  in  its  sub- 
jective Bense  of  the  feeling  or  emotion,  Gir^siiCRG  under  the 
bi;is  of  the  unfounded  shepherd-hypothesis  translates :  "  nei- 
ther to  excite  nor  to  incite  my  affection  till  it  wishes  another 
love,"  the  words  "  another  love "  being  introduced  without 
any  warrant  from  the  text  or  context.  Patrick  paraphrjisea 
thus :  *'  I  conjure  you  not  to  discompose  or  give  the  least  dis- 
turbance to  that  love;  but  let  it  enjoy  its  satisfaction  to  the 
height  of  its  desires."  So  substantially  Tatlor  and  Thrupp. 
Weiss.:  "if  ye  disturb  this  love  until  it  shall  become  com- 
plete, i.e.,  until  the  marriage  be  consummated."  But  tha 
verbs  here  employed  me;iu  to  awaken  or  excite,  not  to  di*r- 
turb.  It  seems  better,  however,  wit.h  the  great  body  of  in- 
terpreters to  take  "  love  "  here  as  in  vii.  6  in  its  objectivw 
sense  of  one  who  is  beloved.  Wordsworth  compares  "  the 
words  of  S.  Ignatius  ud  Ktnn.  7,  6  «ai6s  ep(i>5  eaTaupioTat." 
The  bride  is  locked  in  the  fond  embrace  of  him  whom  sht 
loves.     She  would  not  have  him  aroused  by  the  intrusion  of 


54 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


I.  1— II.  7. 


DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 

1.  The  allegorical  interpretation  current  in  the 
Church  regards  all  the  particulars  in  the  forego- 
ing description  of  the  loving  intercourse  between 
the  bridegroom  and  the  bride,  as  allusions  veiled 
under  mystical  figures  to  the  relation  of  Christ 
to  the  Church  and  further  to  the  soul  of  the  in- 
dividual Christian.  It  sees  in  the  opening  words 
of  Shulamith  i.  2-4  a  manifestation  of  the  long- 
ing of  the  Church  for  union  with  her  heavenly 
bridegroom,  whilst  the  partial  identification  or 
combination  of  Shulamith  with  the  other  virgins 
was  especially  designed  to  indicate  that  the 
speaker  was  an  ideal  person  as  well  as  her  lover, 
who  is  now  addressed,  now  mentionetl  in  the 
third  person,  and  who  forms  the  object  of  her 
longing  desire.  It  further  supposes  in  what 
Shulamith  says  vers.  5,  G  of  her  ''blackness" 
and  of  her  "  not  having  kept  her  own  vineyard," 
references  to  the  sins  of  the  cliurch,  as  the 
causes  of  her  temporary  separation  from  God 
and  her  enslavement  by  the  empire  of  this  world; 
and  accordingly  finds,  in  ver.  7,  a  prayer  to  be 
informed  respecting  the  way  which  leads  back 
to  communion  witli  God  and  Christ,  in  ver.  8  a 
statement  of  this  way  vouchsafed  to  her  by  divine 
grace  ;  vers.  0-17  depict  the  emulous  contest  of 
love,  which  proceeds  between  the  Church  peni- 
tently returned  to  her  heavenly  bridegroom  and 
Christ,  who  graciously  receives  her;  in  which 
the  cordial  promptness  and  address,  with  which 
the  bride  immediately  repeats  in  application  to 
her  bridegroom  everything  said  in  her  praise, 
indicate  the  faith  of  the  Church  working  by  love 
and  making  constant  progress  in  holiness.  Then 
\n  ii,  1 — 7^  it  is  alleged  that  "declarations  of 
love  advance  to  the  enjoyment  of  love,"  and  this 
latter  is  represented  in  ver.  6  as  having  already 
attained  its  acme  under  the  emblem  of  an  em- 
brace, or  of  the  nuptial  couch.  The  epiphonema 
iti  ver.  7  brings  the  entire  development  to  its 
conclusion,  and  shows  by  its  twofold  recurrence 
subsequently  in  iii.  5  and  vili.  4,  that  the  same 
subject  is  treated  in  successive  cycles,  and  the 
Drocess  by  which  the  loving  union  of  Christ 
with  the  Church  is  effected  is  thus  repeatedly 
symbolized  under  an  allegorico-dramatic  veil, 
varied  with  every  iteration. — So  among  the  more 
recent  allegorizers,  ?.  (^.,  HENGSTENByRfj  (pp  2ft'., 
24  ff.,  36  ft'.),  with  whom  the  rest,  as  Hahn, 
HoKLEMANN,  c/c,  agrcc  in  everything  essential, 
and  particularly  in  the  assertion  of  a  cyclical 
i:H>de  of  presentation,  by  which  the  dramatic 
unity  ot  the  whole  is  fundamentally  destroyed, 
and  several  successive  tableaux  or  portraitures 
of  character  are  assumed,  all  relating  to  the 
same  subject  (or  as  Hahn  expresses  it,  each 
*•  serves  to  supplement  or  further  explain  "  its 
predecessors).  Similarly  the  older  allegorical 
interpreters,  only  they  go  intO'  more  d<.-i;iil  in 
the  mystical  exposition  of  the  individual  figures, 
and  see  e.  ff.  in  the  bundle  of  myrrh,  i.  l^i,  a 
reference   to  Christ's  bitter  passion,  or   to  His 


perfect  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men  (comp. 
Starke  in  he),  whereby  consequently  an  allu- 
sion  to  His  munus  sacerdotaU  is  added  to  that  to 
the  munus propheticum  (i.  7,  Christ  as  shepherd), 
and  rcyium  (i.  12,  Christ  as  king)  ;  or  expound 
the  *' golden  bracelets"  i.  11  ot  the  growth  of 
faith,  the  *' silver  points,"  in  the  same  passage, 
of  holiness  of  life;  or  hold  the  "wine  cellar" 
ii.  4  to  be  an  emblem  of  Christian  churches  and 
schools  as  "houses  of  wisdom,"  or  see  in  it 
whether  "the  altar  of  the  Church,  where  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  dispensed,"  or  the 
Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
with  their  various  sorts  or  stages  of  divine 
revelation.* 

2.   In  opposition  to  such  aimless  and  unbridled 


othera  to  the  iotorruptiug  or  abriJging  of  her  joy.  Poole, 
with  an  oyo  to  its  Bpiritual  application  ;  "  Di>  not  Uisturit  nor 
otrentl  him  by  your  miscarriages."  Words.:  "  TIir  church 
conjures  her  children  that  they  be  not  impatient  but  wait  in 
ftitih  and  hope  for  God's  own  time,  when  it  may  plea-sr-  Ilin- 
t<>  \T\A<*  and  deliver  hor." — Tr.J 


*  [Geneva  Bible,  note  on  i.  2  :  "This  is  spdken  in  the  per- 
son of  the  Church  or  ul  the  faithful  soul  intlamed  with  the 
desire  of  Christ,  whom  she  loveth."  Ainsw.  :  "The  bride  is 
the  Church  espoused  to  Christ."  In  i.  "l  she  "  desireth  to 
have  Christ  manifested  in  the  flesh,  and  to  have  the  loving 
and  comfortable  doctrines  of  Uis  gospel  applied  unto  her  con- 
science." "  By  virgins  (ver.  3)  are  meant  all  such  (whether 
whole  churches  or  particular  persons)  who  with  cha-ste  and 
pure  mindd  serve  tlie  Lord  only."  The  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem are  "the  friends  of  Christ  and  Hi3t.lnirch,  theelect  of  God, 
though  not  yet  perfectly  instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord." 
The  bride's  blackness  (ver,  5)  is  "  the  Church's  afflictions  and 
infirmities."  Hor  mother's  sous,  "cither  false  brethren, 
false  prophets  and  deceivei-s,  or  inordinate  lusts  and  sins 
which  dwelt  in  her.  and  were  conceived  with  her."  "  The 
vineyards  opposed  to  her  own  vineyard  seem  to  mean  false 
churches,  and  in  them  the  coiruptiuu  of  religion,  whereunto 
her  motlier'e  sons  sought  to  draw  her;  setting  her  to  observe 
the  ordinances  and  traditions  of  men,  or  otherwise  to  undergo 
their  cruelty  and  wrath."  In  ver.  7  "the  Church  maketh 
request  unto  Christ  for  instruction  in  tlie  administration  of 
His  kingdom  here  on  earth."  BURROwis  regards  this  section 
as  exhibiting,  in  successive  steps,  "  the  progress  of  the  pious 
soul  in  the  enjoyment  of  Christ's  love  and  favor."  1.  We 
enjoy  the  love  of  Josus  as  nianifested  in  private  communion 
"in  His  chambers,"  i,  4.  2.  In  the  way  of  duty  and  self-de- 
nial, i.  7-11.  3.  lu  sitting  with  the  King  in  the  circle  of  His 
friends,  and  enjoying,  iis  one  of  tlieni,  the  delights  of  social 
communion  with  Him,  i.  12-lt.  4.  In  delightful  repose  with 
Him,  amid  enlarged  prospects  of  spiritual  beauty,  i.  15-17. 
5.  In  the  protection  and  delights  set  forth  in  ii.  1-3.  6. 
In  enjoying  at  last  the  pleasures  mentioned  in  ii.  4-7,  tha 
greatest  possible  on  earth." 

WoRDsw.  finds  expressed  in  i.  2  "the  fei-vent  yearnings  of 
tlie  Church  for  the  advent  of  Christ."  "  Tlie  mother  of  the 
Bride  (i.  e.,  of  the  Church  of  Christ)  is  the  Jewish  nation,  and 
her  mother's  children  are  Jews  or  Judaizers.  It  was  the  de- 
lin^UL-ncy,  ingratitude  and  cruelty  of  the  "mother's  child- 
ren "  which  made  the  Christian  Church  become  the  "keeper 
of  the  vineyards." 

According  to  Thrupp,  "  the  Church  of  Israel,  in  i.  2,  desires 
the  very  presence  of  her  Saviour.  She  had  been  instructed 
and  wooed  through  the  messages  of  the  prophets  ;  she  desired 
now  that  her  promised  Messiah  should  pour  into  her  mouth 
words  froia  His  own  mouth."  The  daughters  of  Jerusalem 
are  "  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Israel  in  their  contem- 
plative capacity ;  not  necessarily  different  persons  in  their 
outer  being  from  the  virgins  of  ver.  3  (the  upright),  but  yet 
represeating  them  in  a  ditferent  point  of  view,  with  refei'enco 
solely  to  their  intelligent  and  emotional  survey  of  what  is 
passing,  and  without  regard  to  their  own  spiritual  state." 
The  mother  of'the  Bride  is  the  nation  of  Israel.  The  mother's 
sons  are  "  the  several  members  of  the  nation,  viewed  only  in 
their  civil  dealings,  in  their  relation  to  the  State,  not  in  their 
relation  to  the  Church."  Their  anger  was  the  rebellion  of 
the  ten  tribes.  Her  own  vineyard  was  the  religious  culture 
of  all  Israel.  Hindered  in  this  by  the  political  condition  of 
the  nation,  she  was  driven  to  the  establishment  of  colleges  of 
holy  disciples,  the  sons  of  the  prophets  at  ditferent  centres, 
whu-ie  spheres  of  action  are  denoted  by  the  vineyards,  of 
whicli  the  anger  of  her  l)rethren  made  her  the  keeper.  Wkiss 
refers  this  section  to  the  time  when  Israel  lay  encamped  at 
the  foot  of  Sinai.  Tlif  blackness  of  the  bride  (i.  5)  was  tho 
win  of  the  goldem  calf,  the  sun  that  occasioned  it  was  the 
bondage  in  Kgypt.  The  petition'  (ver.  7)  concerns  the  loading 
through  the  wilderness,  and  the  house  (ver.  17)  is  the  taber- 
naclf-  of  Mdhl's.  Moodv  Stu.\rt  supposes  the  longing  for 
Christ's  appearance,  and  His  actual  birth  among  men,  to  bo 
the  subject  of  this  section  ;  his  interpretation  of  which  id 
specialized  even  to  the  extent  of  making  the  "green  bed  "  of 
i.  IG  refer  to  the  fresh  gnws  upon  which  the  newly-born 
Saviour  was  laid  in  the  maug'-r  for  the  cutth'. 


:.  1— II.  7. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


trifling,  which  lays  no  sure  historical  and  exe- 
getical  foundation  at  the  outset,  and  hence  sup- 
poses that  it  can  bring  every  possible  mystery 
into  the  simple  language  of  this  poem,  an  un- 
prejudiced historical  exposition  can  see  nothing 
in  the  seclio;i  explainea  above,  but  the  first  act- 
of  a  more  prolonged  lyrico-dramatic  action, 
which  by  a  gradual  progress  brings  to  its  de- 
nouement the  relation  of  two  lovers,  king  Solo- 
mon and  a  fair  Israelitish  maiden,  whose  pre- 
vious condition  was  that  of  a  shepherdess  or  a 
viue-dresser  The  development  in  this  first  secdoa 
is  not  carried  beyond  the  exhibiting  a  decided  ethical 
contrast  between  the  character  of  this  maiden  and 
that  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  i.  e.,  the  ladies 
of  Solomon  s  court  or  harem,  and  the  knitting  in 
addition  of  a  firm  bond  of  loving  heart-communion 
between  her  and  the  king,  loho  for  her  sake  alreadg 
begins  to  contemn  all  the  others,  and  even  to  find  them 
unlovefg  (see  li.  2).  It  is  not  exactly  the  very 
first  of  the  "mutual  attachment"  of  the  two 
lovers  (Delitzsch).  but  it  is  the  first  conscious- 
ness in  both  of  the  incomparable  strength  and 
ardor  of  their  reciprocal  affection  (see  particu- 
larly ii.  5,  6),  which  is  exhibited  in  this  act,  to- 
gether with  the  first  evident  cropping  out  of  an 
inner  contrariety  between  this  closely  united 
pair  and  the  other  persons  of  the  court;  and 
this  is  brought  by  the  principal  person  in  the 
piece  to  the  briefest  and  most  emphatic  expres- 
sion possible,  by  the  remark  at  the  close  in  ii.  7, 
as  a  contrast  of  true  and  false  love,  or  that 
which  "awakes  of  itself,"  and  that  which  is 
■•'  excited"  by  amorous  arts.* 

;J.  Only  thus  much  can  be  maintained  as  the  well 
assured   result  of  a   sober,  yet    earuest-minded 

*  [The  contnist  in  character,  which  Zockler  finds  already 
indicated  in  this  section  between  Shulamith  and  tlie  daugh- 
ters of  Jerusiil'm,  though  essential  to  his  scheme  of  the  boult, 
is  purely  imaginary.  It  certainly  is  not  established  by  ii.  2, 
thtt  only  passage  that  can,  with  tho  slightest  plausibility,  ba 
urged  in  its  favor ;  whilst  i.  3  and  4  speak  decisively  against 
it. 

Whether  the  cyclic  or  the  dramatic  view  of  this  book  is  to 
b"  preferred,  may  be  left  an  open  question  at  this  stage  of  the 
exptwition.  If  oui  author  succeeds  in  showing  a  continuous 
progress  in  the.  action  from  first  to  last,  the  latter  view  is  of 
course  entitled  to  the  preference.  But  if  he  fails  in  this,  ils 
in  the  translator's  judgment  h?  do ■> a,  and  as  all  have  don* 
who  have  m;ide  the  same  attempt  before  him,  we  seem  to  bo 
■<hut  tip  to  the  former;  unless  indeed  even  the  cyclic  view,  at 
I.Mdt  ;is  refined  by  some  of  its  later  advocates,  is  too  artificial 
for  the  artless  simplicity  of  this  beautiful  poem,  in  which  the 
Biimrt  theme  recurs  under  varied  aspects,  but  the  law  of  suc- 
t-ession  is  rather  that  of  poetical  association  than  logical  ex- 
actness. 

And  the  general  character  of  this  section  creates  an  ante- 
cedent presumption  favorable  to  this  view.  The  intimacy 
herfl  de.scribed  is  of  the  strictest  and  most  loving  nature,  and 
neems  to  leave  no  room  for  any  further  advance.  Instead  of 
preparing  the  w.iy  for  a  married  union,  it  rather  implies  that 
the  marriage  has  already  taken  place.  The  "bed"  i.  IG  is 
in  all  probability  not  the  nuptial  couch.  But  Shulamith's 
presence  in  the  king"  s  apartments,  the  kisses  and  embraces, 
her  open  expression  of  her  passionate  fondness  for  the  king 
would  be  unbecoming  and  inadmissible,  especially  amid  the 
restraints  of  oriental  society,  prior  to  murriage. — ^Te.] 


exposition    of   this   first   division,  which    keeps 

aloof  from  the  profane  assumptions  and  artifi- 
cial combinations  of  modern  shepherd-romances 
and  amatory  poems ;  and  it  is  simply  on  this 
basis,  therefore,  that  a  practical  applicatica  of 
the  contents  of  this  chapter  and  a  half  must  pro- 
ceed, if  it  is  to  be  conducted  upon  sound  and 
worthy  principles.  Its  aim  must  consist  essen- 
tially in  pointing  out  and  devoutly  estimating  the 
typical  analogy  which  undeniably  holds  between 
what  is  hert*  found  and  tho  dealings  of  the  Re- 
deemer with  ilis  Church.  As  Solomon  raised  his 
beloved  from  a  low  condition  to  his  own  glory, 
and  that  from  mere  love,  and  drawn  by  her 
beauty  and  charms,  so  the  Lord  has  exalted  man, 
sunk  in  misery  and  degradation,  from  no  other 
motive  than  His  love,  His  mere  personal  regard 
for  our  race,  upon  winch  His  divine  glory  and 
blessedness  were  in  no  manner  dependent ;   for 

**Nothirig  brought  Him  from  above, 
Nothing  but  redeeming  love." 

As  further  Solomon's  love  to  Shulamith  ap- 
pears in  a  gradual  growth  and  a  progression  by 
successive  steps,  so  loo  Christ  lifts  both  His  entire 
church  and  the  individual  souls  that  compose  it, 
only  step  by  step  to  the  full  and  complete  fellow- 
ship of  His  grace.  To  the  call  into  His  kingdom, 
which  corresponds  with  the  establishing  of  the 
relation  of  conjugal  love  in  the  royal  gardens  at 
Jerusalem  represented  in  this  act,  succeed  th<i 
higlur  stages  of  illumination,  conversion,  sancti- 
fication ;  but  they  do  not  follow  immediately 
upon  the  heels  of  the  former.  As  finally  the 
lovely  combination  of  child-like  humility  and  of 
inward  longing  for  her  beloved,  which  Shula- 
mith's character  already  exhibits  in  this  first 
Sung,  forms  her  chief  attract  on  which  first 
makes  her  appear  truly  worthy  of  the  love  of  her 
royal  bridegroom,  so  in  the  soul  of  every  Chris- 
tian whom  the  Lord  calls  into  His  kingdom  and 
will  make  partaker  of  His  grace,  the  necessity  of 
surrenderingliimself  voluntarily  to  these  gracious 
drawings  with  a  hearty  desire  for  a  complete 
union  with  liim  becomes  His  highest  duty;  for 
*■'•  non  visivolentes  trahuntur  a  Deo'^  (Matt,  xxiii. 
37.) — Besides  these  analogies  a  sound  and  sober 
practical  exposition  of  this  section  must  also  hold 
up  the  numerous  points  of  difference  between  the 
historical  type  and  the  soteriological  and  Mes- 
sianic antitype;  and  among  these  it  must  par- 
ticularly point  out  the  dissimilitude,  nay  the  con- 
trast between  the  earthly  Solomon,  and  the  di- 
vine-human Redeemer,  as  well  as  between  the 
surroundings  of  both.  For  it  is  only  in  this  way 
that  the  total  of  what  is  contained  in  this  action 
can  be  duly  developed  and  converted  to  practical 
profit  in  both  a  positive  and  a  negative  r«spect. 
Comp.  Introduction,  J  4,  pp.  16  ff. 


K6  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  11.  8— lU.  6. 


SECOND   SONG. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  lovera,  related  by  Shulamilh  who  has  returned  to  her  kon*. 

Chap.  II.  8— III.  5. 

FIRST  {and  only)  SCENE: 

Shulamith  (alone). 

8  Hark !'  my  beloved ;  lo !  here  he  comee, 

leaping''  over  the  mountains, 
bounding  over  the  hills. 

9  My  beloved  is  like  a  gazelle 

or  a  young  hart.' 

Lo !  here  he  stands  behind  our  wall,' 
looking  through*  the  windows, 
glancing  through  the  lattices.' 

10  Answered  my  beloved  and  said  to  me : 

"  Up,'  my  dear,  my  fair  one  and  go  forth  ! 

11  For,  lo!  the  winter  is  past, 

the  rain  is  over,  is  gone. 

12  The  flowers  appear  in  the  land, 

the  time  for  song*  has  arrived, 

and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  dove  is  heard  in  our  land. 

13  The  fig-tree  spices"  its  green  figs 

and  the  vines  are  in  bloom,'"  they  yield  fragrance, 
"up!  my  dear,  my  fair  one  and  go  forth ! 

14  My  dove,  in  tlie  clefts'^  of  the  rock, 

in  the  recess  of  the  clifis," 

let  me  see  thy  form,"  let  me  hear  thy  voice, 

for  thy  voice  is  sweet  and  thy  form  is  comely." — 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Wic.  heading:  The  voice  of  the  church  of  Christ.    Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  church.    Gov.:  Methink  I  hetf  the  Toiol 

•f  my  beloved.    So  CRiN.,  Bisa.] 

2  "  Whilst  the  verb  J7T  snggeets  hia  long  leaps,  as  he  springs,  comp.  Isa.  xxxv.  6;  Ps.  xviii.  30 ;  Zeph.  i.  9,  the  verh 
V3p  i.^^  older  form  for  T3p  and  related  to  VOp  to  press  together,  as  well  as  to  T*Dp  to  gatlier  ;  in  the  Piel  "  to  cause  tc 

draw  together  ")  lets  us.  as  it  were,  see  the  gazelles,  with  which  the  lover  is  compared,  as  in  galloping  they  draw  their  feet 
together  again,  alter  being  stretchnil  go  wide  apart."  Wbissb. 

3  [AINS. :  a  fawu  of  the  hinds  ] 

4  ^ni)  according  to  the  Targ.  on  Josh.  ii.  15  equivalent  to  l^p  "  wall  "  occurs  nowhere  eUe  in  the  Old  Testament  ex- 
cept in  the  Chaldee  forms  7j"\3  Dan.  v.  5,  and  (plur.)  X'/)"!?  Bzr.  v.  8. 

6  [R.  Ver.:  '■  forth  at."  Gov.:  better ''in  at."    Wouos.:  "'spying  in  at  the  windows."] 
6  [Gov.:  peepetb  through  the  grate.     Al."»>. :  flourishing  through  the  lattices.] 

'  The  two-fold  "V^  to  thee  after  ^O^p  arise  and  after  ''37  go,  throws   back  the  action,  as  it  were,  upon  its  subject  and 

thus  serves  to  impart  to  the  language  an  ea^y,  colloquial  and  kindly  character,  comp.  i.  8,  also  vers.  11, 13, 17  ;  iv.  6  ;  viii.  14. 

WmssBlOH  correctly  remarks  that  it  is  chiefly  verbs  of  motion  to  which  this  kindly  "VJ  or  ^7  or  f07   is    added.    [Mat.: 

't  t 

The  voice  of  Christ.] 

8[B.  Ver. :  "singing  o/fnrds"  which  Harmeu  refers  especially  to  the  nightingale.  Wic. :  "cutting."  Gov.:  the 
twisting  time.    Doway  :  "pruning,"  so  Thrdpp  and  Weiss.     Poole  ;  cutting  or  cropping  for  nosegays.] 

'  [So  Notes.  Gov.:  bringeth  forth.  E. 'Ver. :  putteth  forth.  Good,  Qinsb.  :  sweeten.  Williams:  ripen.  Fry:  em- 
balm.   Weiss:  perfume.    Thrupp:  mrtinre.] 

10  [Wic:  flowering.Gov.:  blossoms,  so  Frt,  Notes,  Thrupp.  Dowat:  flower.  E.  Ver. :  tender  grapes ;  so  Good,  Wjusfl, 
6IM8B.  Williams  :  lender  buds.] 

11  [Wic:  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.] 

'*  yhOT}  ^Un  appears  here  as  well  as  in  Obad.  ver.  3;  Jer.  xlix.  16,  which  are  probably  derived  from  the  passage  be- 
fore ns,  to  be  not  rocky  heights,  lofty  refuges  on  tnp  of  the  rocks,  (Schult.,  Gesen..  HENaSTENn..  Weissb.,  f(c.,)  but  rather 
"Assures,  clefts  in  the  rocks"  (comp.  Ewald  and  IIiTzio  in  lor..)     For  the  latter  figure  manifestly  agrees  better  with  the 

present  situation,  (see  ver.  9)  and  m.iy  also  have  a  better  etymological  basis  (comp.  Arab.      ^^.    to  split.) 

"  nlJ"nD  (from  JIT  kindred  to  -111)  comp.  Ezek.  xxxviii.  20,  the  only  other  pasmgo  in  which  the  word  occurs 
"  On  the  form  TXTD  as  a  singular,  comp.  EwiLD,  J  256  b,  [Green'b  Heb.  Oramm.  §  221,  7  a.] 


JI.  8—111.  5.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  i.7 

15  Catch'  us  foxes, 

little  foxes,  spoiling  vineyards ; 
for  our  vineyards  are  in  bloom. 

16  My  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his, 

who  feeds  among  the  lilies. 

17  Against^  the  day  cools,  and  the  shadows  flee 

turn  thee,  my  beloved,  and  be  like 
a  gazelle  or  a  young  hart 
on  the  cleft'  mountains. 

(She  sleeps  and  after  some  time  awakes  again ;) 

III.  1  *0n  my  bed'  in  the  nights* 

I  sought  him  whom  my  soul  loves ; 
I  sought  him  but  I  found  him  not. 

2  "  I  will  rise  now  and  go  about  in  the  city 

in  the  markets  and  in  the  streets ;' 

I  will  seek  him  whom  my  soul  loves." — 

I  sought  him  but  I  found  him  not. 

3  Found*  me  the  watchmen,  who  go  about  in  the  city ; 

"'Whom  my  soul  loves,  have  ye  seen?"" 

4  Scarcely"  had  I  passed  from  them, 

when  I  found  him  whom  my  soul  loves. 

I  grasped  him  and  would  not  let  him  go, 

until  I  had  brought'^  him  into  my  mother's  house, 

and  into  the  chamber  of  her  that  conceived"  me. — • 

5  I"  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

by  the  gazelles  or  by  the  hinds  of  the  field, 
that  ye  wake  not  and  that  ye  waken  not 
love  until  it  please. 

*  [Wic. :  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church  against  hereticB.    Mat.  :  The  voice  against  the  heretics.] 

*  [Adopted  from  Thrupp.] 

^  [E.  Ver.  marg;  divisi  m,  Imt  in  the  text :  Bether.  as  though  it  were  a  proper  name  which  Patrick  identifies  with 
Bethel;  Ainsworth  and  Poole  with  IJithron  ;  and  Clarke  with  Beth-horon.  Cov.:  simply,  •'monntaius"  omitting  Bether. 
Bisa.,  Oran.  :  wide  mountains.  Parkuurst,  Williams  :  craggy  mountains.  Bubrowes  :  a  region  cut  up  or  divided  by 
mountains  and  valleys,  rough,  craggy  and  difficult  to  cross.     With.:  our  secluded  hills.] 

*  [Wiclipfe's  heading:  The  voice  of  tu«  church  gathered  togelherof  Gentiles.  Mat.;  The  voice  of  the  church  which  is 
chosen  out  of  the  heathen,] 

»  [Wic.  :  little  bed.] 

0  [So  AiNS. ;  Wic.  by  nights.    Mat.,  E.  Ver.,  hy  night.] 

'  Cpll^  plur.  of  p^ty,  as  D^in  from  ^^^  [Green's  ijet.  Gramm.  §  207,  1.  f]  related  to   TyT)]^  to  run  (whence  also 
,    .        I-t;  1  -t:  II-  t 

pliy  '<?)  denotes  "places  where  people  run,"  bustling  public  places,  hence  the  Sept.  correctly  iv  ayopaU.    Comp.  Ecclee. 

xii.  4,  5 ;  and  Prov.  vii.  8. — For  ni^TT^  streets  (irAartiai)  comp.  Prov.  i.  20 ;  vii.  12.     Without  sufficient  proof  from  the  lan- 

guag''  Weissbacb  claims  for  this  lUff-r  exjire'ision  the  meaning  "  markets,  open  squares,"  and  for  the  former  the  meaning 
"streets."     [Wic:  by  towns  :ilid  str.  ets.   Cov.  ;  upon  tlio   market  and  in  all  tlie  streets.     Genev.  :  by  the  streets  and  by 

the  open  places.    E.  Ver.  in  the  streets  and  in  the  broad  ways.  Patrick;  Q^pll*?  are  the  lesser  thoroughfares   in  the  city 

I-T  : 
or  the  streets  of  lesser  cities;  as  ni^n"^  are  the  greater,  wider  streets,  or  rather  the  streets  of  the  royal  capital  city.] 

8  On  a^O  '*  to  strike  upon  any  one,  fin'I.  ment  him."  I  Sam.  x.  .^;  Song  Sol.  v.  7. 

0  [Wic    Th"  church  saith  uf  Christ  to  the  apMstk-s.     Mat.  :  The  church  speaking  of  Christ.] 

10  The  interrogative  particle  H  is  omitted  Lit-fore  the  verb  DH^XT,  because  it  is  at  so  great  a  remove  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  clause.    Comp  Ewald.  Lehrbuch,  ?■  314  a,  b. 

11  On  0^03  {OyO  with  J  verUatis)  "as  much  as  a  little."  Comp.  Isa.  i.  9. 

«  On  the  form  VriX'^Hty  for  VnN'DHC;  see  HlTZla  m  ioc.  [Ureen's  Beb.  Gram.,  J  160,  2.] 
^  ^XT^in  synonym  of  QX  as  Hos.  ii.  5. 

•T 

1*  [Wic.  ;  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.    Mat.  :  The  voice  of  Christ.] 

the  formula   of  citation  ii.  10  "h  ^DX1  nh  ipS 
EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 


1.  It  is  the  fixed  opinion  of  almost  all  the  more 
recent  interpreters  that  this  act  contains  two 
monologues  or  sonnets  sung  by  Shulamilh  alone, 
ftnd  nothing  more  ;  and  this  is  verified  by  all  the 
particulars  that  it  contains.  The  attempt  of 
Maunds  and  Delitzscu  to  strike  out  as  spurious 


and  so  to  gain  a  dialogue  form  for  the  first  and 
larger  division  (ii.  8-17)  is  wrecked  not  only  by 
the  evidence  of  genuineness  afforded  by  all  MSS. 
and  .ancient  versions  in  favor  of  these  words,  but 
also  by  the  closing  verses  of  the  section  (vers. 
15-17)  which  correctly  interpreted  represent  her 
lover  as  present  only  to  the  iniagin;itlon  of  Shula- 
milh or  to  her   memory,  which    vividly  recalled 


<••» 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOiMON. 


II.  8— III.  4 


him.     Whether  the  two  monologues  are  regarded 

us  two  distinct  scenes,  (as  is  commonly  the  ciise), 
or  the  scene  is  allowed  to  remain  the  same  in  both 
without  change  and  only  a  pause  of  some  length 
isinterposed  between  them  (Ewald,  Hitz.,  Hau.s.) 
is  on  the  whole  but  an  unessential  ditt'erence.  For 
a  pause  after  ii.  17  is  as  undeniable  and  as  uni- 
versally admitted  as  is  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  second  sonnet  iii.  1-5,  which  as  the  narration 
of  a  dream  (with  the  apostrophizing  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem  therewith  connected)  is  sharply 
and  distinctly  sundered  from  the  preceding  mo- 
nologue, though  this  too  is  of  a  narrative  charac- 
ter. As  to  what  takes  place  between  the  two 
monologues  or  scenes,  we  may  either  suppose 
(with  EvvALD  and  others)  a  prolonged  meditition 
and  silence  on  (he  part  of  Shulamith,  exhausted 
by  the  foregoing  lively  expression  of  her  longing 
desire  for  her  lover,  or,  as  intimated  in  the  above 
translation,  that  she  sinks  in'o  a  brief  slumber, 
which  brings  before  her  in  a  dream  the  lover  for 
whom  she  so  ardently  longs,  and  thus  in  the  mo- 
ment of  her  awaking  recalls  to  her  remembrance 
a  like  dream  from  the  early  days  of  her  love, 
which  she  hereupon  relates.  No  sufficient  proof 
of  this  assumption  can,  it  is  true,  be  brought  from 
the  context.  Yet  it  undoubtedly  has  more  in  its 
favor  than,  e.g.,  the  hypothesis  proposed  by  Um- 
itREiT,  RooKE,  VAiniNGEK,  Rena.n  and  several  of 
ihc  older  writers,  that  Shulamith  utters  the  words 
li.  8-17  in  a  dream,  and  then,  after  awaking,  she 
relates  (to  the  women  of  the  harem  around  her) 
a  dream  which  she  had  previously  had,  iii.  1  if., 
in  order  to  "prove  her  changeless  love  to  the 
friend  to  whom  her  heart  was  given."  The  lan- 
guage in  ii.  8-17  has,  to  be  sure,  a  certain  dream- 
like vagueness,  rather  than  the  character  of  a 
strictly  historical  narration.  But  this  is  suffi- 
ciently explained  by  the  highly  excited  fancy  of 
the  singer,  which  brings  up  the  past  before  her, 
aa  though  she  were  experiencing  it  anew,  and 
which  in  this  lyrical  recital,  that  is  anything  but 
dry  narration,  here  and  there  springs  over  what 
intervenes  between  the  separate  particulars  of 
the  action,  especially  in  ver.  9  and  between  vers. 
14  and  15. 

2.  It  is,  however,  far  more  difBcult  to  deter- 
mine the  scene  or  tiie  situation,  and  the  external 
.surroundings  of  the  speaker  during  this  act,  than 
to  decide  upon  the  form  and  style  of  thediscour.se. 
The  adherents  of  the  shepherd-hypothesis,  who 
here  conceive  of  .Sliulamith  as  continuing  at  Je- 
I'usalem  in  tiie  royal  harem,  and  expressing  her 
longing  for  her  distant  lover,  can  urge,  it  is  true, 
in  favor  of  tliis  the  repetition  of  the  address  to 
the  "daughters  of  Jerusalem  "  at  the  close  of  the 
section  (iii.  5),  but  are  not  able  to  explain  why 
the  description  in  ii.  8-17  presupposes  an  un- 
doubted country  scene,  with  mountains,  hills, 
vineyards,  Howery  fields,  etc  ,  or  why  it  i.s  a  sim- 
ple monologue  of  the  beloved,  and  neitlier  Solo- 
mon nor  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  utter  a  word. 
BiiTTciiER's  view,  therefore,  seems  to  have  some- 
iliing  in  its  favor,  that  the  locality  of  the  action 
was  a  royal  country  house  not  far  from  Jerusa- 
lem, where  Shulamith  was  detained  a  solitary 
[irisoner.  And  the  one  circum.stance  at  least 
iliat  according  to  ii,  8  tf.  the  s(;tMi"  appears  to  be 
in  the  country,  might  be  conveniently  combined 
with  the  asaumptiou  that  Shulamith  here  contin- 


ues to  stay  in  the  royal  pleasure-grounds  south 
of  the  capital,  and  that  Solomon  has  only  left  her 
again  for  a  while  for  some  unknown  reasons. 
But  Shulamith's  place  of  abode  plainly  appears 
to  be  one  further  removed  from  Jerusalem,  and  in 
fact  to  be  located  in  the  region  of  her  home.  For 
1)  the  mention  of  her  mother's  house,  with  it.'» 
wall  and  its  latticed  window  (iii.  4  ;  ii.  9)  makes 
it  probable  that  she  is  there.  2)  We  are  also  led 
to  the  very  same  result  by  1JS"1N3,  "  in  our  land," 
ii.  12,  the  mention  of  the  "vineyards  in  bloom," 
ii.  13,  15,  as  well  as  the  iri3  '^n,  ii.  17,  whether 
this  difficult  expression  be  rendered  "separating 
mountains,"  or  "cleft  mountains,"  or  "spice 
mountains"  (seem/oc).  3)  Shulamith  brought 
in  solemn  pomp  to  the  wedding  by  her  royal 
bridegroom,  as  described  for  the  first  time  in  the 
following  act,  iii.  6-11,  presupposes  that  she  had 
before  been  staying  again  in  her  parents'  house; 
for  it  is  from  thence  that  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  the  bride  must  always 
be  brought  (comp.  1  Mac.  ix.  37,  39  ;  Matth.  xxv. 
1,  ele.).  4)  That  Shulamith  came  from  northern 
Palestine  to  Jerusalem  for  her  marriage  with  Sol- 
omon, is  also  rendered  highly  probable  by  the 
mention  of  Lebanon  in  what  her  newly  espoused 
says  to  her,  iv.  8;  and  further,  the  "coming  up 
ot  the  bride  out  of  the  wilderness,"  as  described 
in  iii.  6,  in  her  entry  into  the  capital,  might  point 
to  a  coming  from  the  north,  and  not  out  of  the 
wilderness  of  Judah,  which  lay  south  of  Jerusa- 
lem (comp.  in  loc).  Accordingly  the  parental 
residence  of  the  bride,  or  its  vicinity  is,  with 
DoPKE,  Heiligstedt  and  Delitzsch,  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  scene  of  this  passage— that  is  to 
say,  Shunem  or  some  neighboring  locality  in  the 
tribe  of  Issachar  north  of  Mount  Gilboa,  or  on 
the  south  side  of  "Little  Hermon."  How  Shu- 
lamith came  thither  again  from  the  royal  resi- 
dence, whether  peaceably  dismissed  to  her  horn© 
by  agreement  with  her  bridegroom,  or  conducted 
thither  by  himself  in  order  to  be  subsequently 
brought  with  solemn  pomp  to  the  wedding,  is  not 
clearly  explained  in  the  piece.  Only  every 
thought  must  be  excluded  of  a  possible  flight  of 
the  virgin  from  the  royal  harem  to  her  home,  for 
s!ie  cxliibita  her  longing  for  her  royal  lover  in 
undiminished  strength,  and  this  too  not  as  though 
it  had  arisen  from  regret  at  her  too  hasty  flight 
from  him  (comp.  Delitzsch,  p.  99  f.). — As  re- 
gards the  time  of  the  action,  it  appears  to  follow 
from  the  way  that,  ii.  11-13,  the  winter  is  de- 
scribed as  past,  and  the  fair  spring-time  as  come, 
that  an  interval  of  some  months  had  elapsed  be- 
tween the  summer  or  autumn  scene  of  the  pre- 
ceding act  (i.  14,  IGf.;  ii.  3  S.)  and  the  present, 
or  more  briefly,  that  "the  entire  rainy  season  lies 
between  ii.  7  and  ii.  8"  (IliTZ.).  But  as  that 
charming  description  of  opening  spring  belongs 
to  a  narration,  and  furthermore  to  a  poetic  and 
ideal  narration  of  what  Solomon  said  to  his  be- 
loved on  his  first  meeting  with  her,  no  conclusion 
can  be  drawn  from  it  in  respect  to  the  time  of 
this  action.  And  neither  the  "winter"  in  ii.  11 
nor  the  "nights"  in  iii.  1  (according  to  Hixzio 
the  "long  winter  nights  !")  afford  any  support  for 
that  opinion,  whicdi  would  cliarge  upon  t[)e  poet 
too  great  a  vi(dation  ot  the  .Aristotelian  demand 
of  the  unity  of  time.     On  the  contrary,  there  m 


II.  8— IIL  5. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


69 


Dolhing  in  the  way  of  assuming  witli  Ewalt),  Bott- 
CHEE,  Del.  and  most  of  the  later  interpreters,  an 
interval  of  but  a  few  days  between  Act  1  and  2 
(which  certainly  need  not  be  narrowed  down  to 
the  space  of  a  few  hours,  as,  e.  g.,  Vaiuinger  as- 
sumes), nor  of  regarding  the  entire  action  of  the 
piece  generally  as  taking  place  in  the  course  of  a 
single  spring,  and  occupying,  at  the  utmost,  a  few 
weeks.*     Comp.  on  vii.  13. 

3.  Ch.    ii.,  VERS.  8,  9. 

Ver.  8.  Hark!  my  beloved.  —  Literally, 
"the    voice    [or     sound]    of     my    beloved," — 

"""yn  Sip,  to  which  abrupt  expression  T\'T\  it 
is  or  y012i  is  heard  is  to  be  supplied  as  in 
Isa.  xl.  3,'6  (Matt.  iii.  3);  2  Kings  vi.  32.  [It 
is  rather  an  exclamation,  to  which  no  verb  need 
be  supplied,  see  Green's  Ueb.  Chres.  on  Isa. 
xl.  3,  6].  And  the  following  expression,  "lo! 
there  he  comes,"  elc,  shows  that  it  is  not  the 
words  of  the  bridegroom  (Hknoste.nbero,  after 
MiCHAELis  and  many  of  the  older  writers),  but 
his  coming  itself  or  the  sound  of  his  coming 
and  bounding  over  the  mountains  and   the  hills, 

in  short  his  steps,  which  are  indicated  by  7lp. 
comp.  V.  2;  Gen.  iii.  8;  1  Kings  xiv.  6.  That 
Shulamith  was  shortly  expecting  her  lover,  may 
be  probably  inferred  from  this  exclamation  of 
hers  which  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  some  noise  in  which  she  thought  she 
heard  the  steps  of  him  for  whom  she  longed. 
But  that  whicb  further  follows  is  not  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  arrival,  which  now  actually  ensues 
(Maqn.,  Dei.),  nor  a  mere  airy  fancy  sketch  or 

*  [If  Shulamith  is  here  describing  her  first  meeting  with  her 
royal  lover,  there  is  no  reason  why  slie  miglit  not  remember 
uad  reliite  it  u^  fully  as  is  here  done,  without  the  necessity  of 
being  transported  for  the  purpose  from  Jerusalem  to  Shunem, 
even  supposing  th.at  to  have  been  her  original  home.  Espe- 
cially as  her  adjuration  of  the  "daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  iii. 
5,  is  a  more  evident  proof  of  her  still  being  in  the  royal  capi- 
tal, than  any  which  ZdCKLER  has  been  able  to  bring  to  the 
contrary.  He  seems  to  have  made  the  mistake  of  confounding 
the  locality  of  a  p;ist  event  narrated  with  the  place  of  the  nar- 
rator. It  may  be  a  necessity  to  the  dramatic  hypothesis  to 
get  her  ba^-k  again  to  Shunem,  after  her  residence  with  the 
king  in  his  palace,  in  order  that  she  may  come  thence  in  so- 
lemn pomp  to  her  marriage  at  a  subsequent  period.  But  this 
Bcarcely  warrants  the  drawing  of  so  large  a  conclusion  from 
BO  slender  a  premise. 

The  advociUes  of  the  idyllic  hypothesis  find  here  a  distinct 
song,  describing  a  visit  paid  by  the  lover  to  the  fair  object  of 
his  affections,  without  being  at  any  pains  to  trace  a  connec- 
tion between  it  and  what  had  preceded.  Taylor  thinks  that 
this  belongs  to  the  second  day  of  the  marriage  feast ;  the  bride 
from  her  window  in  the  palace  is  attracted  by  the  sound  of  a 
hunting  party  (ii.I5);  the  bridegroom,  who  is  one  of  the 
party,  looks  up  and  addresses  her.  Withinqton  supposes 
some  time  to  have  elapsed  since  the  preceding  scene.  "  The 
Dride  had  gone  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  after  .a  stay  there  had 
gone  bjick  to  the  country,  and  was  to  remain  there  until  the 
season  came  of  her  husband's  rustication,  whicli  would  natu- 
rally be  in  the  spring."  BURROWES:  "The  beloved  hsul  left 
the  spouse;  these  words  describe  his  return."  WoRltswoRTR 
connects  this  scene  directly  with  the  immediately  preceding 
verse,  the  slumber  of  the  bridegroom  there  described  being 
equivalent  to  his  absence  or  withdrawal :  "  The  patience  of  the 
bride,  after  long  waiting,  is  rewarded  by  the  joyful  sight  of 
the  bridegroom  bounding  over  the  hills."  Ginsburg,  with 
his  peculiar  modification  of  the  shepherd-hypothesis,  descril>es 
the  situation  iis  follows ;  "  The  Shulamite,  to  account  for  the 
•everity  of  her  brothers,  mentioned  in  ii.  (i.  relates  that  her 
iKsloved  shepherd  came  one  charming  morning  in  the  spring 
to  invite  her  to  the  fields  (8-14):  that  her  brothers,  in  order 
to  prevent  her  from  going,  gave  her  employment  in  the  gar- 
dens (l.'jj ;  that  she  consoled  herself  with  the  assurance  that 
her  beloved,  though  separated  from  her  at  that  time,  would 
come  again  in  the  evening  (16,17);  that  seeing  he  did  not 
come,  she,  under  difficult  circumstances,  ventured  to  seek  him 
and  found  him  (iii.  1-4)."— Tr.] 


dreaming  description  of  what  her  friend  would 
say  and  do,  if  he  were  now  actually  to  com* 
(Umbr.,  Hitz.,  Vaih.,  etc. — see  No.  1,  above), 
but  a  vivid  reminiscence  of  the  way  that  he  had 
actually  come  to  her  the  first  time  and  of  the 
loving  conversation  which  had  then  taken  place 
between  him  and  her  by  the  wall  of  her  parental 
home.  It  was  the  more  natural  for  the  bride  lo 
be  thus  vividly  transported  to  the  past,  as  she 
was  hourly  expecting  her  bridegroom  back 
again  at  the  very  spot  where  he  had  then  met 
with    her    for    the    first    time.* — Leaping — 

bounding  (J^l?"]'?.!!?)-  From  this  descrip- 
tion of  her  lover's  first  coming  to  Shulamith, 
which  is  further  illustrated  by  the  following 
figures  of  the  gazelle  and  the  young  hart,  we 
may  perhaps  conclude  that  Solomon  while  hunt- 
ing on  Mount  Gilboa,  or  in  its  vicinity,  saw  his 
beloved  there  for  the  first  time,  and  formed  a 
connection  with  her  in  the  manner  ideally  de- 
scribed in  what  follows. 

Ver.  9.  My  beloved  is  like  a  gazelle  or 
a  young  hart.  Hitzig  calls  in  question  the 
genuineness  of  these  words,  with  no  other 
grounds  of  suspicion  than  such  as  are  purely 
subjective.  They  are  designed  more  particularly 
to  illustrate  and  justify  in  their  application  to 
her  lover  the  somewhat  bold  and  in   themselves 

not  very  intelligible  terms  J7T  "  leaping."  and 
yap  "bounding."  And  this  they  manifestly  do 
in  so  far  as  they  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  he 
resembles  those  fair  and  noble  animals  not  in  his 
speed  and  agility  merely,  but  generally  in  the 
charming  grace  and  lofliness  of  his  whole  bear- 
ing. Comp.  passages  like  2  Sam.  ii.  18;  1  Chron. 
xii.  8;  Prov.  vi.  5,  where  speed  alone  is  the  ten. 
comp.  in  this  figure,  with  Ps.  xviii.  34 ;  Hab. 
iii.  19;  Prov.  v.  19,  where  the  other  qualities  of 
these  animals  are  also  taken  into  the  account. — 
Lo  here  he  is,  standing  behind  our  wall. 
Judged  by  the  analogy  of  other  pasfiiges,  in 
which  it  is  found,  the  word  here  used  docs  not 
mean  the  wall  about  the  vineyard  but  the  wall 
of  the  house,  to  which  the  mention  of  the  win- 
dow immediately  after  also  points. f  "Our 
wall,"  because  Shulamith  means  the  house 
belonging  to  her  family,  in  or  near  which  she 
now  is  again  [or  which  she  so  well  remembei* 
— Tr.];  comp.  viii.  8  "our  sister,"  and  "our 
vineyards"  ver.  15. — Looking  through  the 
windows,  glancing  through  the  lattices — 
literally,  "from  tlie  windows,  from  the  lattices." 
It  is  a  matter  of  indifference  from  whicl)  window 
he  looks  into  the  interior;  it  was  only  worlli 
while  to  affirm  in  the  general  that  he  looked  in 
from    the  region  of  the  windows,  that  is   from 

without.  "Window"  (pSn),  and  "lattice" 
(N3'}n — according   to   the    Targ.  Josh.  ii.  1.5,  18 

*  [There  is  no  propriety  in  sundering  this  from  what  fol- 
lows. The  succeeding  verses  evidently  continue  or  explain 
this  opening  exclamation.  If  it  belongs  to  the  present,  so 
does  the  entire  description  which  it  introduces.  If  tin- 
coming  of  the  beloved  here  narrated  is  past,  her  exclamation 
on  hearing  the  sound  of  his  approach  is  past  also. — Tr.] 

f  [Harmer  supposes  the  reference  is  to  a  kiosk  or  eastern 
arbor,  and  quotes  the  Letters  of  Lady  Montague,  who  speaks 
of  them  II.  p.  74  as  "  enclosed  with  gilded  lattices,  round 
which  vines,  jessamines  and  honeysuckles  make  a  sort  ol 
green  wall."] 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


II.  8— III.  5. 


equiTalent  to  f^n,  of  the  same  meaning  also 
with  3JE^K  Judg.  v.  28 ;  Prov.  vii.  6,  as  well  as 
with  n3^X  Hos.  xiii.  3;  Eccles.  xii.  3)  are  plainly 
only  different  names  for  the  same  thing,  of  which 
however  the  latter  expression  is  the  more  special 
or  precise;  for  the  lattice  properly  closed  the 
aperture  of  the  window  and  consequently  was 
that  through  which  he  must  have  looked,  comp. 
2  Kin.  xiii.  17. —  '("SO  literally,  "blooming" 
(comp.  Isa.  xxvii.  6;  Ps.  cxxxii.  18  and  especi- 
ally Ps.  Ixxii.  16,  where  V'i'O  occursof  men  bloom- 
ing out  of  the  earth)  does  not  express  a  "  transient 
appearing"  or  a  "quick  and  stolen  glance,"  but 
evidently  describes  the  blooming  and  radiant 
appearance  of  her  lover,  who  is  also  called  "  white 
and  red,"  V.  10.  "He  blooms  in  through  the 
window"  (comp.  Michaelis:  '' roseum  suum  vul- 
tum  instar  fioris  jucundissimi  per  retia  canclloTuni 
osUndens")  is  a  pregnant  expression,  and  reminds 
one  of  Gen.  xlix.  'SI,  where  Joseph  is  described 
as  a  young  fruit  tree  of  luxuriant  growth,  whose 
"daughters"   run    over    the  wall.* 

4.  Solomon's  first  geeetinq  to  Shulamith, 
vers.  10-14. 

Ver.  10.  My  beloved  answered  and  said 
to  me.  In  opposition  to  the  doubts  of  Magxus 
and  Delitzsch  regarding  the  genuineness  of 
these  words,  see  above  No.  1.  In  respect  to  T\yj 
in  the  opening  of  a  discourse  and  consequently 
in  the  sense  of  "beginning  to  speak"  (not  "  an- 
swering" Hengstesbekg),  comp.  Deut.  xxi.  7 ; 
xxvi.  5;  2  Chron.  xxix.  31;  Isa.  xiv.  10;  Job 
iii.  2,  and  a—nKpiyeadai,  which  is  frequently  so 
used  in  the  New  Testament. f  Arise,  my  dear, 
my  fair  one,  and  go  forth,  viz.,  out  of  the 
house. — not  "out  cf  the  city  into  the  country," 
as  the  adherents  of  the  shepherd-hypothesis  sup- 
pose, who  think  the  shepherd  utters  these  words 
to  Shulamith  in  her  captive  condition  (similarly 
also  Weissbach).J: 

Ver.  11.  For  lo,  the  winter  is  past.  ^^\D 
(for  which  the  K'ri  VHO  to  fix  the  correct  pro- 
nunciation instead  of  IjlD  as  it  might  possibly 
be  read)  denotes,  as  also  in  Aram.,  the  winter 
and  that  on  the  side  of  its  cold,  as  the  parallel 
expression  DC^J  (comp.  Eccles.  xii.  2 ;  Job 
xxxvii.  G)  denotes  the  same  on  the  side  of  its 
jnoisture,  that  is  to  say,  as  the  raiity  season 
t.D'OUl  nj;  time  of  rain,  Ezr.  x.  9,  13).  The 
winter  as  the  cold  season  of  the  year  necessarily 
keeps  people  in  the  house;  whence  the  allusion 
to  its  being  p.ist  adds  force  to  the  solicitation  to 
come  out  of  the  house. 

Ver.  12.  The  flowers  appear  in  the  land, 
literally,  "are  seen  (IKlJ)  in  the  land."  On  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  spring  with  its  new  ver- 
dure and  its  blooming  attire  usually  follows  the 
winter  iu  the  East,   comp.  Hasselquist,  Reism, 

*  rW'oRPSw. :  Literally,  sprouting  and  hlormiing  like  a 
flnwerin;^  nhnib  or  creeper,  whose  hloasnms  peep  aiici  glance 
tiiroijfrli  the  trellis  or  lattice  work  of  a  window,  and  griving 
hriKhtpess  and  loveliness  to  the  apartment.] 

t  f  WoRDsw. :  Here  is  an  anticipation  of  the  phrase  so  often 
applied  in  the  gospels  to  Christ,  who  answered  even  the 
thoughts  of  His  hearers.] 

t  [It  can  scarcoty  he  anything  but  aslip  when  Withington 
puts  these  words  into  the  mouth  of  the  bride  :  *'  He  hears  her 
distant  voice  ;  Rise  up,  my  love,"  etc. — ^TB.j 


p.  261.— The  time  of  singing  has  arrived. 

T'Otn  nj^  is  not  the  "lime  for  pruning  vines," 
as  the  old  translators  explained  it,  after  the  anal- 
ogy of  Lev.  XXV.  3  f.  ;  Isa.  v.  6 ;  for  in  vers.  13 
and  15  the  vines  are  represented  as  already  in 
blossom,  the  time  for  pruning  them  was  therefore 
long  since  past;  but  it  is  the  "time  of  singing, 
of  merry  songs."  By  this,  however,  we  are  not 
to  understand  the  singing  of  birds  (Ibn  Ezea, 
Rasui,  E.  Meieb),  but  conformably  to  Isa.  xxv. 
5  (T3I),  xxiv.  16;  Job  xxxv.  10  ;  Ps.  cxix.  54 ; 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  1,  etc.  (niTDT),  the  glad  songs  of 
men,  such  as  spring  usually  awakens,  especially 
in  the  life  of  shepherds  and  country  people 
(comp.  Judg.  xxi.  20  f. ).— And  the  voice  of 
the  turtle  is  beard  in  our  land,  v(z.  in  Pales- 
tine, the  land  of  Solomon  and  and  Shulamith. 
This  ^JVHNS  does  not  by  any  means  require  us 
to  regard  Shulamith's  country  lover  as  the 
speaker,  although  it  favors  the  assumption  that 
the  scene  of  the  narrative  lay  in  the  country 
rather  than  in  the  city.  The  "turtle-dove"  Ohi) 
as  a  bird  of  passage  (Jer.  viii.  7)  is  a  fit  repre- 
sentative of  spring,  and  it  need  not  therefore 
symbolize  the  Holy  Spirit  (Takg  ),  nor  the  meek 
(Hengstenb.),  nor  Israel  in  general  (Hahn). 

Ver.  13.  The  fig  tree  spices  its  fruit.  As 
D'JS  means  not  the  early  figs  but  the  late  figs, 
i.  e.  the  small  fruit  of  the  fig  tree  which  con- 
tinues to  grow  during  the  winter,  and  does  not 
ripen  until  spring  (Septuag.  b'/ivSut,  Vulgate, 
yrossi),  and  as  Djn  signifies.  Gen.  1.  2,  26,  "  to 
spice,  to  perfume,"  this  verb  must  here  too  have 
the  sense  of  spicing  and  denote  that  "aromatic 
sweetness"  which  figs  attain  about  the  lime  of 
their  ripening  (comp.  Schubekt,  Reise  III.  p. 
113).  We  must  reject,  therefore,  both  the  "put- 
ting forth  "  of  the  ancient  versions  (Sept.,  Aq., 
Vulg.,  Syr.),  and  the  signification  of  "redden- 
ing" or"browning,"preferred  by  Ewald,  Hitzio, 
Renan,  etc.;  for  the  late  figs  are  of  a  violet  color 
even  during  the  winter,  when  they  are  still  unfit 
lo  eat  (comp.  IMeiee  and  Weissbach  in  loc). — 
And  the  vines  are  in  blossom,  literally, 
"are  blossom."     ITrSD  a  substantive,  which  oc- 

-  T  : 

curs  again  ver.  15  and  vii.  13,  and  whose  etymo- 
logy is  very  obscure  (comp.  Velth.,  Ewald  and 
HiTziG  in  loc),  can  mean  nothing  but  "  blossom, 
vine  blossom"  either  here  or  in  the  other  two 
passages;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  ancient 
versions  (Sept.  Kinzpi^etv,  Vvlg.  fiorere,  Svmm. 
o'lvdvd?/;  also  the  Syr.  on  Isa.  xvii.  11).  It 
plainly  makes  no  difference  in  the  sense  whether 
we  translate  "the  vines  are  blossom  (comp.  e.  </. 
Ex.  ix.  31),  give  fragrance"  (as  is  commonly 
done)  or  "the  vines  in  blossom,  i.  e.  since  they 
are  blossoming,  yield  their  fi-jigraiice"  (see  e.  {j 
Weissb.  comp.  Delitzsch).  With  regard  to  the 
fine  delicious  fragrance  of  the  vine  blossom  comp. 
also  Ecclus.  xxiv.  23. 

Ver.  14.  My  dove  in  the  clefts  of  the 
rock. — No  pause  is  observable  between  vers.  13 
and  14  (HnziG;  comp.  Weissbach).  The  ten- 
derly caressing  and  alluring  language  continues 
without  change.  Solomon  here  entitles  his  be- 
loved a  "dove  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,"  because, 
as  appears  from  ver.  9,  the  bars  of  the  latticed 
window  still  separate  him  from  her.     The  allu- 


11.  8— III.  5. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


:i 


sion  to  her  dove-like  ianocence  and  her  lovely 
form  is  altogether  subordinate,  but  must  never- 
theless not  be  left  wholly  out  of  the  account  as 
e.g.  Weissbach  insists;  for  "dove"  is  undoubt- 
edly a  lender  pet-name,  comp.  vi.  9,  and  even  i. 
l.j.  The  allegorical  interpretation,  which  sees 
in  the  dove  -'persecuted innocence"  (Hengsten.), 
or  even  the  righteous  hiding  himself  in  the 
gaping  wounds  of  Christ  (Theodoret,  Greq.  the 
OREAT,  J.  Gerh.  )  has  clearly  noexegetical  justi- 
tioation.*  In  the  secret  of  the  cliSs,  literally 
'■  in  the  hiding-place  of  the  ladder  of  rock,  of  the 
steep  rocky  precipices,"  for  this  appears  to  be  the 
meaning  of  the  word  here  used.  The  expression 
evidently  serves  only  to  finish  out  the  figure  em- 
ployed immediately  before  of  the  clefts  of  the 
rock  concealing  the  dove.  No  conclusion  can  be 
based  upon  it  respecting  Shulamith's  place  of  re- 
sidence, as  though  it  actually  were  a  rock-bound 
castle  (BoTTCHER),  or  were  in  Solomon's  lofty 
palace  upon  Zion  (EwALD,  HiTZio,  Vaih.,  ete.)| 
Tcie  present  description  would  rather  ap- 
pear to  indicate  (comp.  above  No.  2)  that  Shu- 
lamith's country  home  was  surrounded  by  a 
iiioinlainous  and  roijky  region  (Delitzscu). — 
Let  me  see  thy  form,  HSTO  denotes  in  this 
poem  not  barely  the  face  (this  Solomon  already 
saw  through  the  lattice)  but  the  entire  form, 
comp.  V.  1-5.  also  Gen.  xii.  11;  xxix.  17;  xxxix. 
ti. — Let  me  hear  thy  voice.  Evidently  an  in- 
vitation to  sing,  with  which  Shulamith  complies 
ill  ver.  15. — ^'The  following  fortifying  clause  re- 
minds of  the  similar  oue  in  ver.  9,  a. 

h.  Shulamith's  answer. 

Ver.  15.  That  this  verse  is  a  little  vintagers' 
song  or  at  least  the  fragment  of  one,  and  that 
Shulamith  sings  it  in  answer  to  the  request  of 
her  lover  in  vers.  10-14  is  regarded  as  settled  by 
most  of  the  recent  interpreters  since  Herder. 
Only  the  allegorists,  as  He.ngstesberq,  Hah.v,  elc. 
see  expressed  in  it  Shulamith's  fear  of  the  foes 
of  God's  vineyard  (/.  e.  heretics  according  to 
He.nostenberg,  [so  Gov.,  Patr.,  Poole  and  the 
generality  of  English  Commentators],  pagan  Ha- 
mites  according  to  Hahn.);  and  Ewald  inap- 
propriately puts  the  words  into  the  mouth  of  the 
lover,  who  thus  makes  the  connection  again  with 
what  he  had  said  in  ver.  13.  That  we  rather 
have  here  a  separate  ditty  or  fragment  of  a  song, 
is  shown  not  only  by  the  plural  form  of  address, 

but  also  by  the  accumulation  of  rhymes  (D'^J'ty, 

D-:op,   D'S^nO,  D^niD).     And  that  this  ditty  is 

sung  by  the  bride,  not  by  the  bridegroom,  ap- 
l)ears  from  its   contents,    which   seem   perfectly 


*  IIarmer  sayg,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Shaw  :  "  Dove^  in 

tlio^e  countries,  it  seems,  take  up  their  abodes  in  th^^  hollow 

plaices  of  rocks  and  clitfs."     WoRDSW.  suggests  th.it  tlie  com- 

puriHon  is  "  to  a  dove  Heeing  to  the  clefts  of  the  rock  for  rcluf^u 

from  the  storm."    CtOOD  quotes  a^  parallel  the  following  simile 

IVoiu  IliMER's  description  of  the  wounded  Diana,  II.  xxi.  493. 

'•  As  when  the  falcon  wings  her  \\ay  above. 

To  th'»  cleft  cavfi-ti  spei'ds  the  atfrighted  dove. 

Straight  to  her  shelter  thus  the  goddess  flew."] 

f  [So  Harmer,  who  supposes  an  allusion  to  "her  apart- 
ments in  a  lofty  palace  of  stone."  Good  ;  "  The  common  ver- 
sion, 'secret  places  of  the  stairs'  is  erroneous.  The  mistake 
has  obviously  originated  from  a  wiph  in  the  translatoi-s  to 
give  a  literal  interpretation  to  this  highly  figurative  phrase- 
ology. Stairs  may  well  enough  apply  to  the  royal  fair-one 
jij  a  bride,  but  not  as  a  dove."] 


suitable  for  the  keeper  of  a  vineyard  (see  1.  6), 
but  not  for  her  lover,  be  he  king  or  shepherd.* 
It  is,  however,  arbitrary  and  preposterous  to 
assume  with  HiTzio  and  Re.nan,  that  Shula- 
mith sings  this  sonnet  at  one  of  the  win- 
dows in  the  harem  at  Jerusalem  in  order  to  in- 
form her  lover  from  her  old  home,  who  was  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  place  of  her  abode,  in  nearly  the 
same  way  that  Richard  Ooeur  de  Lion  betrayed 
the  place  of  his  captivity  to  Blondel,  his  faithful 
minstrel,  by  singing  the  refrain  of  a  song  famil- 
iar to  them  both.  The  whole  situation  too  is 
not  in  the  remotest  manner  adapted  to  such  a 
romantic  and  sentimental  meaning  and  design  of 
the  sonnet.  Its  context  rather  indicates  plainly 
enough  that  it  still  belongs  to  Shulamith's  narra- 
tive other  first  meeting  with  her  lover,  and  coti- 
sequently  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  her 
answer  to  his  request  to  come  out  to  him  and  to 
sing  to  him, — an  answer,  which  whether  actually 
given  by  her  in  just  these  words  or  not,  at  all 
events  concealed  a  delicate  allusion  to  her  lover 
under  a  popular  veil  artlessly  employed  and  half 
in  jest,  and  intimated  to  him  that  she  was  not 
disinclined  to  let  him  take  part  henceforth  in  her 
care  for  the  security  of  her  vineyard.  If  she 
really  sang  these  words,  she  did  so  while  open- 
ing the  doors  of  her  house  to  admit  her 
lover  who  stood  without  before  the  wall,  or 
while  she  stepped  out  to  him  singing  and  smiling 
(comp.  Delitzsch  in  loe.) — Catch  us  foxes, 
little  fozes,  spoiling  vineyards.  The  foxes 
deserve  this  name,  not  because  they  attack  the 
ripe  grapes  themselves  (Theocr.  Id.  I.  46,  ff; 
V.  112),  but  because  by  their  passages  and 
holes  they  undermine  the  walls  of  the  vine- 
yards and  injure  the  roots  of  the  vines ;  and 
they  also  gnaw  the  stems  and  young  shoots. f 
It  was  important,  therefore,  in  the  spring  when 
thevines  were  blossoming,  to  protect  the  vineyards 
from  these  uninvited  guests ;  and  the  more  so, 
since  the  spring  is  the  very  time  of  the  coming 
forth  of  the  young  foxes  from  their  kennels.  The 
predicate  D'J£3p  little  refers  to//o«rty  foxes  (comp. 
Gen.  ix.  24;  xxvii.  15;  1  Kin.  iii.  7),  not  to  the 
diminutive  size  of  the  animals  which  nevertheless 
do  so  much  damage  [so  Har.mer,  Goou,  Wil- 
liams] ;  in  that  case  the  smaller  variety  of  the 
jackal,  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  adwe,  would 

be  specially  intended  by  Wl^\^  (Hitziq).  But 
as  the  jackal  is  always  called 'S  or  |jl  (.Job  xxx. 
29.  Mic.  i.  8)  in  every  other  passage  in  which  it 
is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  whilst  l^W 


*  [Goon,  BURROWES,  Notes,  .^del-Ude  Newtox,  Withing- 
TON,  Thrupp,  make  this  the  language  of  the  bride  ;  Patrick, 
Poole,  Ainsworth,  Hs.vrt,  Scott,  Taylor,  Fry,  Clarke, 
Wordsworth  the  language  of  the  bridegroom.  Ginsbdro 
puts  it  in  the  mouth  of  Shulamith's  brothers.  W1LLIAM.S  is 
led  by  the  plural  form  of  the  pronouns  both  of  the  first  and 
secoTid  pv-rsons  to  suppose  that  the  chorus  of  virgins  is  here 
adriressing  the  companions  of  the  tjridegroom.  The  ingenioua 
suggestion  that  these  words  may  be  borrowed  from  a  popular 
song,  '.vhich  here  receive  a  new  meaning  from  their  connec- 
tion, .agrees  well  with  this  peculiarity  in  the  form  of  expres- 
sion and  also  with  the  intimation  in  the  preceding  verse. 

WoRDSw. :  "  He  commands  her  to  look  well  to  her  vineyard. 
Ho  calls  it  our  vineyard ;  it  is  his  as  well  as  hers."  Withing- 
tox,  (after  Taylor,  who  thinks  this  verse  a  summons  to  a 
cha.se)  sees  in  it  an  allusion  to  the  "sports  and  employments 
of  the  care-worn  king"  in  his  seasons  of  relaxation.] 

j-  [Patt.ick;  Aristophanes  in  his  Equifs,  compares  sol- 
diers  to  foxes ;  spoiling  whole  countries  as  they  do  vineyards.] 


THE  SONG  OP  SOLOMON. 


II.  8— III.  6, 


is  the  constant  designation  of  the  fox  proper,  we 
are  not  justified  here  in  departing  from  this  usual 
meaning  of  the  expression,  comp.  Oedmann, 
Sammlunffen  II.  SS;  W iser,  Seal- Worterl/uch,  Art. 
Fiichse,  also  P.  Cassel  ou  Judg.  xv.  4.  More- 
over the  expressions  ** little  foxes"  and  ''de- 
stroying  vineyards"    are   simply   related    as   in 

apposition  to  the  principal  object  O'T^ty;  and 
both  this  and  the  words  named  as  in  apposition 
are  without  the  article,  because  it  is  not  the  foxes 
universally,  but  just  foxes,  vineyard-destroying 
foxes  that  are  to  be  taken.  Hitziq  seeks  without 
necessity  to  base  upon  this  absence  of  the  article 

before  Wi)3'iO  his  translation  "hold  for  us,  ye 
foxes,"  e?c.,  which  he  makes  equivalent  to  "wait,  ye 
foxes.  Ml  give  it  to  you  ! " — For  our  vineyards 
are  in  bloom,  literally  "and  our  vineyards 
are  in  bloom;"  comp.  in  respect  to  this  specifying 
"and,  and  in  fact."  which  here  has  a  specially 
motive  character,  Eccles  i.  1.5;  viii.  2;  Judg.  vi. 
25;  vii.  'Z'l;  Mai.  i.  11,  and  in  general  Ewald, 
{ 340,  b.  By  the  expression  TlOi?  the  singer 
takes  up  again  what  had  been  said  by  her  lover, 
Ter.  13,  a,  whether  she  altered  her  ditty  in  con- 
formity with  it,  or  that  expression  in  tlie  mouth 
of  Solomon  recalled  to  her  mind  this  vern.al  song 
with  the  like-sounding  refrain  ;  this  latter  view  is 
evidently  the  more  natural. 

6.  Co.vcLUSiON  OF  THE  FiBST  MONOLOODE.  Vers. 
16,  17. 

Ver.  16.  My  beloved  is  mine  and  I  am 
bis. — This  declaration  that  she  has  become  the 
properly  of  her  beloved  .and  he  hers,  that  they 
have  mutually  surrendered  themselves  to  one  ano- 
ther (comp.  vi.  3;  vii.  11),  does  not  contiuue 
Shulamith's  answer  to  the  greeting  of  Solomon, 
ver.  10  i-14  (Delitzscu,  Weissbach,  etc.),  but 
after  her  account  of  her  first  meeting  with  him, 
which  terminates  with  ver.  15,  she  takes  up  again 
the  expression  uf  her  desire  for  her  absent  lover 
uttered  in  ver.s.  H,  9,  by  asserting  in  the  first  in- 
stance that  though  still  absent,  he  was  inseparably 
bound  to  her.* — W^ho  feeds  among  the  lilies. 
— Manifestly  a  figurative  expression  for  "who, 
wherever  he  abides,  spreads  radiance,  joy  and 
loveliness  about  him,"  or  "in  whose  footsteps 
roses  and  lilies  ever  bloom. "f  With  reference  to 
the  figurative  nature  of  this  form  of  speech  as  a 
fixed  and  favorite  poetical  phrase,  comp.  its  re- 
currence with    two   ditferent  applications,   iv.  5 

*  [Williams  :  "  Thesp  verses  stand  perfectly  distinct  from  the 
preceding.'*  Others  endeavor  to  establisli  a  direct  connection 
with  the  foregoing  verses.  Thus  Taylor  paraphrases  :  "  I  am 
all  obedience  to  his  requests;  it  shall  be  my  happiness  to  ac- 
complish his  desires."  And  Wordsworth  in  its  spiritual  ap- 
plication :  "  The  (Church  thankfully  catches  up  the  expression 
'our  viney.ird;'  Jind  rejoices  that  nut  only  have  they  one 
vineyard,  but  that  He  is  hers  and  she  is  His."] 

t  fQooD,  with  an  entire  misapprehension  of  the  figure  in- 
t«nded :  "  So  sweet  is  his  breath,  that  surely  he  feedeth  among 
the  lilies."  GivsB.:  "Who  tends  his  flock  in  the  meadows 
abounding  with  flowers."  A  figure  for  "the  best  pastures." 
According  to  Wiluams,  "for  in  such  lilies  appear  to  have 
grown  spontaneously ;"  or  for  "  sweet  and  lovely  pastures." 
occortling  to  PoOLB,  "  where  there  is  not  only  herbage  to  feed 
them,  but  lilies  to  delight  them."  Frv  suggests  as  the  con- 
nection between  the  clauses  of  the  verse  :  "  let  him  drive  his 
flock  to  pasture  in  the  flowery  meads  and  I  will  accompany 
him."  Al.vswoRTH,  Henry.  Words,  and  others  find  in  the  lilies 
a  figurative  reference  to  the  bride  herself  as  the  olp.iect  of  his 
fond  attu-hment,  and  one  who  had  been  compared  to  a  lily 
among  thorns,  ii.  *2.J 


and  vi.  3.  Shulamith  had  already  represented 
her  royal  lover  as  feeding  his  flock,  i.  7. 

Ver.  17.  Against  the  day  cools  and  the 
shadov7s  flee. — Contrary  to  the  division  of  the 
verses,  as  well  as  to  the  analogy  of  vi.  3,  Herder, 
Amm.,  Kleuker,  Dopke  [so  Coverdale,  Dowat] 
connect  these  words  with  the  participial  clause 
at  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse.  "Feeding 
among  the  lilies  till  the  day  grows  cool "  would 
yield  a  very  tame  and  trivial  thought,  whilst,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  following  solicitation,  "  turn 
thee,"  etc.,  can  scarcely  dispense  with  some  more 
particular  statement  of  the  time  up  to  which  or 
about  which  it  should  be  complied  with.  Upon 
W.  "^S  (literally,  "enduring  till,"  "waiting 
tiir')=:"  until,"  "whilst,"  by  the  time  that, 
comp.  the  like  forms  of  expression.  Gen.  xxiv. 
33  ;  xxvii.  45;  Ex.  xxii.  26;  1  Sam.  i.  22;  xiv. 
19,  etc.;  also  i.  12  above,  where,  it  is  true,  the  con- 
nection demands  a  somewhat  ditferent  transla- 
tion. Shulamith  evidently  bogs  her  lover  to  re- 
turn to  her  before  the  coming  on  of  the  shades  oi 
evening  (before  the  day  wholly  cools,  and  the 
ever  lengthening  shadows  melt  quite  away  in  the 
darkness — comp.  Job  xiv.  2).  By  evening,  at  the 
latest,  and  before  night,  he  should  come  over  the 
mountains  to  her  swift  as  a  gazelle,  as  at  that  first 
time  when  she  had  seen  him  bounding  over  the 
summits  and  the  bills  (ver.  8).* —  Turn  thee  and 

be  like,  etc. — 3D  neither  qualifies  D^l  adver- 
bially, "resemble  hereabouts  a  gazelle,"  etc. 
(Weissbach);  nor  is  it  an  invitation  to  her  friend 
already  present  to  ramble  with  her  upon  the 
mountains  in  the  neighborhood"  (Delitzscu); 
nor  equivalent  to  "turn  back  again,'  as  though 
it  were  intended  to  call  back  one  who  had  shortly 
before  been  near  her  and  who  was  going  away 
(Bottchek);  but  Eimply:^"turn  thyself  hither, 
direct  thy  steps  hither"  (comp.  1  Sam.  xxii.  18; 
2  Sam.  xviii.  30).  The  Vulgate  quite  correctly, 
therefore,  as  regards  the  sense,  revertere ;  so 
also  the  Syr.,  Luth.,  etc. — The  call  upon  him 
to  "resemble  the  gazelle"  is  evidently  connected 
with  the  description  given  of  her  lover  in  ver. 
8.  She  wishes  that  her  lover  would  novv  soon 
return,  .as  she  saw  him  then,  swiftly  and  grace- 
fully, like  the  sudden  appearing  of  a  noble  deer 
on  the  mountain  height. — On  cleft  mount- 
ains.— This  translation   of  the   difficult  "IH'Su 

"T  ^ 

ins  is  especially  favored  by  the  c-l  dp)/  kul'/m- 
!iaTuv  of  the  Sept.  The  usuiil  signification  of 
1113,  "piece,"  "severed  portion"  (Gen.  xv. 
10;  Jer.  xxxiv.  18,  19,  etc.)  lies  at  the  basis 
of  it;  and  both  the  name  of  the  place,  PinS, 
Bitbron,  the  designation  of  a  mountain  ravine 
east  of  the  Jordan,  2  Sam.  ii.  29,  and  the  Greek 

*  [Good  ;  "Till  the  day  breathe.  The  expression  is  truly  ele- 
gant and  poetical.  At  midnight  all  nature  lies  dead  and  life- 
less. The  shadows,  however,  at  length  fly ;  the  morning 
breathes  and  nature  revivifies.  The  intrinsic  excellence  of 
the  metaphor  has  seldom  been  understood  by  our  commenta- 
tors, who  have  almost  all  of  them  referred  it  to  the  day  breeze 
of  the  country,  or  at  least  to  that  peculiar  current  of  air  which 
is  often  found  existing  in  most  climates  at  the  dawn."  Wil- 
liams: "Return,  my  beloved,  and  remain  with  me  until  the 
day  breathe."  Noyes:  "This  is  understood  by  many  of  tlu- 
morning.  But  the  more  recent  commentators  refer  it  to  sun- 
set or  the  evening."  Woedsw.:  "  Before  the  first  cool  gales 
of  the  evening."] 


n.  8— in.  5. 


THE  SONG  f)F  SOLOMON. 


payciQ,  "fissure,  cleft,"  offer  themgeWes  at  once 
as  confirmatory  analogies  (comp.  Gesen.,  Let., 
also  Vaiu.,  Kenan  and  Delitzsch  in  loc,  "riven 
mountains").  Commonly,  "on  mountains  of  sep- 
aration," i.  f.,  on  the  mountains  that  separate 
us  (comp.  Luther,  "auf  dert  Scheiiebergen ;" 
Merc,  Ewald,  Hitzig,  also  the  Tarq.,  Ibn  Ezra 
and  Jarchi)  [so  Ginsburg].  Peculiarly  Weiss- 
BACH  "on  the  spice-mountains"  (or"Bathrum 
heights,"  comp.  Vulg.,  "super  monies  Bolfier," 
and  Theodoret,  who,  as  well  as  the  Syr.,  trans- 
lates similarly  "  etri  ra  dpi  ^ii/iia/idruii")  ;  by  this 
he  supposes  to  be  meant  Shulamilh's  breasts  per- 
fumed with  aromatic  betel-leaves,  i.  e.,  with 
liaXojidiipov,  malabalhru)n=Syr..  bathrum.  But 
such  an  adducing  of  the  D'pC/3  '171,  mountains  of 
spices  mentioned  in  viii.  14,  and  that  as  identical 
in  signification  with  the  "mountain  of  myrrh" 
and  "hill  of  frankincense"  mentioned  in  iv.  6, 
«.  e.,  with  the  fragrant  breasts  of  his  beloved  (?), 
is  in  the  present  inslance  manifestly  destructive 
of  the  sense  and  repugnant  to  tjie  connection,  and 
would  besides  yield  an  absolutely  lascivious 
sense,  which  the  expressions  in  question  do  not 
have  in  the  two  passages  alleged. 

7.  Shulamith's  dream  with  the  epiphonema 
TO  THE  daughters  OF  Jerus.vlem,  iii.  1-5. — Comp. 
above  No.  1  and  2.  This  brief  section,  the  nar- 
ration of  a  dream  which  she  had  previously  had, 
need  not  be  referred  to  any  other  place  than  that 
of  the  preceding  action ;  and  no  convincing 
ground  can  be  gathered  from  the  passage  itself, 
either  for  the  view  of  Delitzsch  that  from  the 
scene  of  the  present  action  "Jerusalem  was  visi- 
ble in  the  distance,"  nor  for  that  of  Weissbach, 
who  imagines  the  scene  to  have  been  the  very 
streets  of  Jerusalem.  The  adjuration  of  the 
daughters  of  Jerusalem  at  the  close  by  no  means 
implies  their  presence,  but  is  sufficiently  ex- 
plained  by  the  fact  that  the  speaker,  led  by  the 
same  feelings  as  before  (ii.  5  If. )  to  a  lively  ex- 
pression of  the  harm  resulting  from  a  self-induced 
exciting  of  the  love  sickness,  clothes  this  expres- 
sion in  exactly  the  same  words  now  as  then,  and 
conceives  of  the  same  witnesses  present  here  as 
there.  As  besides  the  exclamation  in  question 
has  also  the  character  of  a  gener.il  moral  senti- 
ment (comp.  above  p.  55)  intended  for  the  specta- 
tors (real  or  imaginary)  of  the  piece,  the  address 
to  the  women  of  Jerusalem  conceived  of  as  really 
distant  from  the  speaker,  would  be  the  less  sur- 
prising. .Vnd  fui'ther,  in  the  third  passage,  in 
which  the  exclamation  occurs,  viii.  4,  the  ab- 
sence of  the  persons  addressed  is  more  probable 
than  their  presence  (see  in  loc). 

Ver.  1.  On  my  bed  in  the  nights  — 
•'.  e.,  agreeably  to  the  context  and  the  wliole 
situation  the  same  as  "  once  in  a  dream," 
"lying  upon  my  bed  by  night  and  dreaming."* 


*  fSo  Good  :  "  The  word  '  dream '  does  not  occur  in  the 
original ;  but  from  the  period  of  time,  the  place  and  position 
of  the  fair  bride,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  is  here  de- 
scribing a  dream."  Scott  ;  "  The  circumstances  of  this  nar- 
ration (and  of  one  in  some  respects  similar  in  the  fifth  chap- 
ter) are  so  improbable,  if  applied  in  their  literal  meaning  to 
the  newly-espoused  queeu  of  King  Solomon,  that  to  avoid 
the  difficulty  and  to  maintain  the  consistency  of  a  dramatic 
poem  on  occasion  of  Solomon's  marrijige,  it  has  been  con- 
sidered merely  as  a  dream  of  the  spouse.  But  the  narrative 
gives  not  the  le;ist  intimiition  of  this."  To  which,  however. 
Notes  replies:  "The  author  would  not  be  more  likely  to 
violate  probability  or  propriety  in  an  allegory  than  in  the 


nib'S|  belongs  not  to  the  verb  "I  sought," 
but  to  the  preceding,  "on  my  bed"  (comp.  the 
like  connection  in  ii  8)  ;  and  this  entire  state- 
ment of  the  place  and  time  "on  my  nightly 
couch,"  is  plainly  not  designed  to  declare  where 
she  had  vainly  sought  her  lover,  viz.,  in  her  bed 
(Luther,  so  too  Hengstenbero,  Delitzsch, 
Weissbach),  but  how  she  had  sought  and  not 
found  him,  oiz.,  sleeping  and  dreaming  at  night. 
Delitzsch,  c  g  ,  has  sought  to  set  aside  what 
is  morally  oflFensive  in  the  former  explanation, 
by  the  assertion  that  "  in  a  dream  she  might 
miss  her  lover  even  in  the  night,  as  though  he 
were  already  her  husband,  who  shared  her  bed." 
But  thus  it  is  clear  that  the  otfence  is  not  re- 
moved; it  is  only  increased.  Far  more  attrac- 
tively, and  answering  more  exactly  to  the  true 
construction,  Hitzig:  "It  would  be  inadmis- 
sible to  understand  it:  I  thought  to  find  him  on 
my  bed.  Rather :  I  on  my  bed  thought  to  find 
him.  And  not  him  too  on  the  bed.  She  after- 
wards in  ver.  2  resolves  to  seek  him  out  of  the 
house  ;  so  she  seeks  him  now  in  the  room,  inside 
of  the  house,  as  far  as  her  eye  can  penetr.ate, 
not  barely  within  her  bodily  reach."  Moreover, 
"  in  the  nights"  is  certainly  not  equivalent  to 
"in  long  and  dreary  nights"  (Henostenb.,  and 
in  general  almost  all  the  allegorists),  nor  "in 
the  long  winter  nights"  (Hitzig),  nor  "  in  seve- 
ral nights,"  as  though  the  same  dream  had  been 
repeated  more  than  once  (Vaiuinoer)  [West- 
MiNST.  Annotat.:  "  night  after  night ;"  so  Pat- 
rick] ;  but  the  plur.  stands  poetically  for  the 
sing,  as  more  general  and  pictorial  [Green's 
ffeb.  Uhresl.  on  Gen.  xxxvii.  8];  comp.  the 
"clefts  of  the  rock"   and    "steeps,"  ii.  14  and 

r\l^'^3  again,  ver.  8. — I  sought  him  -whom 
my  soul  loves.  Comp.  on  1.  7. — I  sought 
him  and  I  found  him  not — viz.,  in  my  im- 
mediate surroundings,  which  my  dream  had  in 
the  first  instance  conjured  up  before  me. 

Ver.  2.  I  -will  rise  no'W  and  go  about  in 
the  city.  With  life-like  vividness  of  descrip- 
tion she  relates  what  she  said  in  her  dream,  as 
though  she  were  saying  it  now  for  the  first  time. 
It  is  therefore  unnecessary  to  supply  '^^'2'*  ' 
said  (comp.  vii.  9)  before  NJ  HOIpX.  The  city 
with  its  markets  and  streets,  where  she  proposes 
to  wander  about  seeking  her  lover,  is  certainly 
Jerusalem,  the  royal  city  itself.  She  was  there 
when  she  had  the  dream,  and  the  action  of  the 
dream  accordingly  takes  place  there  too. — In 
the  markets  and  in  the  streets.  The  im- 
propriety that  there  would  be  in  an  Israelitish 
maiden's  actually  roving  about  the  streets  in 
such  a  search  (comp.  Prov.  vii.  11)  disappears 
of  course,  if  Shulainith  was  dreaming. 

Ver.  'A.  Found  me  the  v^atchmen  ^ho 
go  about  in  the  city.     Such  niglitly  guardians 


ordinary  products  of  his  imagination."  With.  :  "  She  ima- 
gines herself  in  the  city,  and  relates  the  incidents  in  vers. 
'A,  4.  There  is  no  need  of  supposing  it  a  dre4im  ;  it  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  vivacity  of  eastern  thought."  TwLOR 
thinks  that  what  is  subsequently  said  of  the  nocturnal 
search  is  not  descriptive  of  what  the  bride  actually  did.  but 
optative  or  hypothetical.  Fry  springs  over  the  difficulty  by 
means  of  his  idyllic  hypothesis,  conceiving  that  this  has  no 
relation  to  the  "  nuptials  of  King  .Solomon."  but  that  it  re- 
lates "  a  circumstance  in  domestic  life,  among  the  lower  or 
middling  classes  of  society  "]. 


74 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


II.  8— III.  » 


of  the  public  safety  might  easily  occur  to  the 
simple  country  maiden  in  her  dream,  because 
she  had  heard  of  their  existence,  or  also  because 
she  had  seen  some  of  them  at  night  from  her 
residence.  Comp.  Ps.  cxxvii.  1 ;  Isa.  lii.  8. — 
Whom  my  soul  loves,  have  ye  seen  ? 
The  emotion  of  the  questioner  led  io  the  prefixing 
of  the  object  "  whom  my  soul  loves,"  as  the  word  ' 
of  greatest  consequence  to  her.* 

Ver.  4.  Scarcely  had  I  passed  from  them-  | 
literally  "what   I   had   passed  from  them  was  a! 
little,  until  I  found,"  elc.     (So   correctly  HiTZic,  I 
Weissbaoh). — 'When    I   found    him   whom 
my  soul  loves.     Not  because  she  thought  her- 
self  at   once   transported   from   the   city  to   her 
home    (HiTzio),    but    simply    in    virtue    of    the 
easily  shifting  and  quickly  changing  scenery  of 
dreams,  which  bring  now  this  person,  now  that 
immediately  before  us. — I  grasped  him  and 
did  not  let  him  go.     So  also  Delitzsch,  Hit- 
zio,  etc.,  after  the  Sept.  Cod.  Vatic.  (Kai  ovk  aijifjKa 
avTov),  the  Syk.  and   R.\shi.     On   the  contrary, 
the  VuLG.  "  tenui  eum,  nee  dimittam,"  and  similarly 
Vat.\bl.,  Ewald,  Hengstb.,  Weissb.,  etc.     [So 

Co  v.,  Dow.iY:  will  not  let  him  go].  But  X/1 
^J3"^N  by  no  means  compels  us  to  regard  the  ac- 
tion as  future,  "for  the  connection  with  Vav  relat. 
[conversive]  was  simply  severed  by  the  negative 
and  the  second  mode  [future]  was  allowed  to 
remain,  comp.  Job  xxiii.  11;  Jer.  xliv.  42;  2 
Sam.  ii.  28,  Ewali),  Lekrb.  §  333  c."  (Hitzig). 
The  immediate  linking  too  of  VipfnX  with  'JINXD, 
as  well  as  the  circumstance  that  the  language 
does  not  pass  into  the  form  of  aft  address  to  her 
lover  ("I  grasp  thee  and  will  not  let  thee  go," 
elc),  shows  plainly  enough  that  Shulamilh  is 
continuing  her  account  of  what  occurred  in  her 
dre.iin.f  Until  I  had  brought  him  into  my 
mother's  house.  The  house  or  tent  of  the 
mother  is,  in  the  East,  the  proper  residence  of 
the  female  members  of  the  family,  comp.  Gen. 
ixiv.  67;  Ruth  i.  8.  In  the  mouth  of  Shulamith 
the  expression  properly  vouches  only  for  her 
childlike,  artless  and  dutiful  disposition  (comp. 
Iiitroduc.  ^  4,  Rem.  i.),  not  for  the  specially 
chaste  and  pure  character  of  her  love  for  Solomon 
(  Delitzsc'II  ),  and  still  less  certainly  for  any  impure 
lusts  that  she  might  cherish  (Weissbach).  And 
there  is  no  intimation  of  the  latter  in  the  words 
added,  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  parallelism, 
"and  intothechamberof  her  that  conceived  me.  "J 
Ver.  5.  Comp.  on  ii.  7,  as  well  as  above,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  No. 


*  [Poole  :  She  accosted  the  watchmen  "  without  either 
fear  or  shame,  aa  being  transported  and  wholly  swallowed  up 
with  love.  She  doth  not  name  him  [her  husband]  because 
ah'-  thought  it  needless,  a^  supposing  that  a  person  of  such 
tniuscendent  excellency  could  not  be  unknown  to  men  in 
that  public  capacity.  Their  answer  is  not  mentioned,  either 
b'Tjiuse  they  gave  her  no  answer,  at  least  no  satisfactory  an- 
swer, or  because  ijy  their  silence  she  gathered  that  they  were 
iiii;i!)le  or  unwilling  to  inform  her;  and  being  eager  in  the 
pursuit  of  her  beloved,  she  would  not  lose  time  in  imper- 
tinent discourses  with  them  "]. 

t  [The  second  verb  is  certainly  future,  though  the  act  de- 
scribed may  still  be  past,  its  time  being  reckoned  not  from 
the  moment  of  speaking,  but  from  the  period  denoted  by  the 
antecedent  verb.  The  future,  when  thus  emjiloyed,  indicates 
that  the  act  is  siibsequent  to  or  conditiimed  liy  "the  jireceding 
preterite.  Orren's  Hf.b.  Grnm..  §  2R3,  ."i  a.  The  shade  of 
thought  so  suggested  is  well  expressed  in  the  Knolish  Ver- 
•inv  ;  "  I  held  him.  and  ivoitld  not  let  iiim  tin." — Tr.[ 

J  [Hodgson  ;    "  This  passage  seems  to  prove  that  the  person 


DOCTRINAL    AND    ETHICAL. 

1.  According  to  the  allegorical  exegesis  of  ancient 
as  of  modern  times,  the  essential  thing  described 
in  this  song  is  the  "  painful  search,"  which  must 
precede  the -finding  of  the  heavenly  bridegroom 
on  the  part  of  his  church,  as  well  as  on  the  part 
of  the.soul  of  the  individual  believer.  And  they 
commonly  find  in  ii.  8-17  the  development  of 
the  thought  "that  sore  trials  will  precede  the 
appearing  of  the  heavenly  Solomon,"  while  iii. 
1-5  sets  forth  the  truth  that  the  salvation  of  the 
Messiah  cannot  be  brought  to  pass  by  one's  own 
strength,  nor  by  earthly  and  human  means,  but 
that  whoever  seeks  to  draw  the  Saviour  down 
from  heaven  in  this  way,  not  only  will  not  find 
Him,  but  will  be  found  and  punished  by  His 
watchmen.  In  short,  the  native  inability  of 
man  to  achieve  his  salvation  of  himself,  and  the 
necessity  of  a  saving  interposition  of  divine 
grace  from  above  to  deliver  us  from  our  distress 
and  disquiet,  is  thought  to  form  the  principal 
object  represented  in  this  section  (comp.  Hengs- 
TENBEBG,  pp.  49-66;  Hahn,  p.  46;  Starke, 
Synops.,  p.  2404,  2426  f.,  and  the  older  interpre- 
ters there  adduced).* 


here  married  was  not  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  for  if  she  had 
been  Pharaoh's  daughter,  her  mother's  house  would  have 
been  in  Egypt,  whereas  this  scene  lies  in  Jerusalem  ;  for  in 
the  next  line  she  addresses  the  daughters  of  .Jerusalem,  and 
desires  them  not  to  disturb  her  sleeping  husband  "]. 

*  [Dow.w,  note  on  ii.  8 :  "  The  voice  of  my  beloved  :  that 
is,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  surmounting  difficulties."  On 
ii.  l.'i:  "Christ  commands  His  pastors  to  catch  false  teachers, 
by  holding  forth  their  fallacy  and  erroneous  doctrine,  which, 
like  foxes,  would  bite  and  destroy  the  vines."  On  iii.  1  • 
"The  Gentiles  as  in  the  dark,  and  seeking  in  heathen  delu- 
sion what  they  could  not  find,  the  true  God,  until  Christ  re- 
vealed His  doctrine  to  them  by  His  watchmen  (ver.  3),  that 
is,  by  the  .apostles  and  teachers,  by  whom  they  were  con- 
verted to  the  true  faith.  And  holding  that  faith  firmly,  the 
spouse,  the  Catholic  church  declares  (ver.  4),  that  '  She  will 
not  let  Him  go,  till  she  bring  Him  into  her  mother's  house,' 
that  is,  till  at  last  the  Jews  shall  also  find  him." 

Geneva,  note  on  ii.  8 ;  "  This  is  spoken  of  Christ,  who  took 
upon  Him  onr  nature  to  come  to  help  His  Church."  On  ver. 
t.5  :  "  Suppress  the  heretics  while  they  are  young,  that  is, 
when  they  begin  to  destroy  the  vine  of  the  Lord."  On  iii.  1 ; 
"  The  Church  in  troubles  seeketh  to  Christ,  but  is  not  incon- 
tinently heard." 

WoRDSW.,  on  ii.  8  :  "  After  absence  the  bridegroom  returns. 
The  Church  is  comforted  after  her  trials.  Thus  it  was  at  the 
first  advent,  when  Christ  came  to  the  Church  after  long  ex- 
pectation; and  thus  will  it  be  when  He  will  come  at  the 
great  d.ay."  On  ver.  15 ;  "  The  duty  of  the  Church  to  main- 
tain  the  faith  and  to  repress  heresy.  The  poisonous  error  is 
to  be  nipped  in  the  bud."  On  iii.  1 :  "The  Bride  seeming  to 
herself  to  be  left  a  widow,  seeks  her  Beloved  in  a  time  of 
darkness  and  sorrow,  and  she  finds  Him  not ;  she  therefore 
goes  forth  in  quest  of  Him.  This  has  been  verified  at  divers 
times  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  specially  was  it  true  at 
the  time  of  our  Lord's  passion.  So  will  it  be  in  the  dark 
night  of  Anti-Christianism,  on  the  eve  of  the  second  advent 
of  Christ."  On  ver.  4 :  "  The  Church  passes  from  the  watch- 
men, because  they  would  not  help  her  to  find  Christ.  This  is 
a  very  important  text,  in  reference  to  the  iiuestion  of  schism. 
If  the  watchmen  of  a  church  do  not  direct  the  eyes  of  the 
faithful  to  Christ,  the  faithful  must  pass  from  them — what- 
ever the  consequences  m.ay  be — the  faithful  must  seek  for 
Christ  until  they  find  Him." 

According  to  Thrupp,  this  section  describes  the  Church  as 
patiently  awaiting  the  advent  through  a  long  season  of  dark 
storms,  of  iianefnl  attiicks  and  of  anxious  searchings.  MooDT 
Stdart  makes  its  subject  to  be  "the  sleeping  Bride  awak- 
ened;" first,  "the  call  to  meet  the  bridegroom"  through 
"the  preaching  of  .John  the  Baptist,"  ii.  8-1  ."S ;  secondly, 
"the  response  to  the  call,"  ii.  16 — iii.  5,  when  ".John's  dis- 
ciples seek  Christ."  Weiss,  finds  the  winter  (ii.  11)  in  the 
forty  years'  wandering  of  the  children  of  Isniel  in  the  desert; 
the  foxes  (ver.  l.'i)  are  the  idolatrous  Canaanites  whom  they 
were  bidden  to  destroy ;  the  night  (iii.  1 )  is  the  period  of  th» 
Judges,  marked  by  few  revelations ;  the  watchmen  (ver.  3) 


II.  S— III.  5. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


2.  A  considerate  historical  exposition  also  re- 
cognizes the  loving  desire  and  search  of  a  bride 
for  her  bridegroom,  as  the  main  object  described 
in  this  act.  But  it  ayoids  seeing  anything  morally 
reprehensible  in  this  longing  desire  of  the  maiden 
separated  from  her  lover.  It  rather,  in  aocord- 
auoe  with  the  unmistakable  design  of  the  poet, 
regards  this  very  fidelity  with  which  the  bride 
clings  to  the  friend  of  her  choice  even  during  a 
long  separation,  as  one  of  the  loveliest  traits  in 
her  character.  Neither  by  day  nor  by  night, 
neither  waking  nor  dreaming  can  she  turn  her 
thoughts  away  from  the  object  of  her  affection.* 
Every  noise  seems  to  her  to  betoken  his  coming; 
in  the  sound  of  every  voice  she  fancies  that  she 
hears  him  for  whom  she  ardently  longs,  and 
whom  she  is  expecting  back  with  painful  eager- 
ness. With  perfect  distinctness  and  the  ulmost 
vividness  the  glad  event  of  her  first  meeting  with 
her  lover  still  stands  before  her  eyes.  She  re- 
calls most  clearly  all  the  particulars  of  an  occur- 
rence, the  most  enrapturing  she  has  ever  known. 
Of  the  sweet  and  flattering  words,  which  her 
royal  bridegroom  then  addressed  to  her,  not  one 
has  escaped  her.  She  can  still  relate  most  ex- 
actly both  the  words  perfumed  with  the  sweetest 
frao-rance  of  spring,  with  which  her  nature- 
loving,  nature-appreciating  friend  then  enticed 
her  out  and  irresistibly  drew  her  to  himself,  and 
the  verse  of  the  rustic  song,  by  singing  which 
siie  playfully  gave  him  to  understand  (hat  she 
returned  his  affection,  that  her  vineyard  should 
hanceforth  blooai  for  him,  and  that  he  should 
help  her  to  guard  and  keep  it.  And  that  other 
painful  and  yet  blessed  moment  of  her  former 
intercourse  with  her  royal  lover  stands  no  less 
olearly  before  her  eyes,  which  taught  her,  in  a 
dream  it  is  true,  and  yet  with  hearl-stirring 
])ower,  that  she  could  no  longer  live  without 
him,  that  she  could  not  be  for  an  instant  sepa- 
rated from  him  without  experiencing  a  painful 
longing  for  him,  and  that  this  loving  desire  and 
languishing  for  him  would  never  henceforth 
cease  until  she  had  him  and  held  him,  until  she 
was  wholly  and  forever  united  with  him.  This 
yearning  of  her  heart,  so  affect ingly  described 
by  her,  attains  its  acme  once  iu  the  conclusion 
which  she  reaches  in  her  account  of  her  first  in- 
terview with  her  lover  (ii.  Iti) :  "  .My  beloved  is 
mine,  and  I  am  his,  who  feeds  among  the  lilies ;" 
and  again,  in  the  closing  words  of  her  recital  of 
her  dream  (iii.  4) :  "I  grasped  him  and  did  not 
let  him  go  until  I  had  brought  him  into  my 
mother's  house  and  into  the  chamber  of  her  that 
conceived  me." 

are  Samuel  and  the  prophets  of  his  school ;  following  their 
directions  Israel  soon  found  his  Lord  in  the  days  of  David 
(ver.  4).  BCRROWES:  In  ii.  8-17,  our  Lord  allures  us  by  the 
beauty  of  heaven ;  iii.  1-5  describes  a  *'  season  of  spiritual 
desertion,"  diifering  from  v.  2-8,  "  in  this  respect  that  in  the 
latter  the  beloved  is  repulsed  by  neglect,  while  in  the  former 
iMthing  of  that  kind  seems  mentioned."  Patrick  ri'iiiarka 
upon  the  words  ''on  my  bed,"  iii.  1 :  "This  is  ex(ii>uiiiii-il  with 
strange  variety  by  interpreters  ;  some  understanding  hereby 
tlie  bed  of  affliction,  others  the  bed  of  ease  and  pleasure, 
others  of  weakness  and  infirmity,  ftc.  But  I  have  taken 
both  bed  and  night  in  the  most  simple  sense,  to  signify  the 
time  and  place  for  most  composed  thoughts ;  comp.  Ps. 
iv.  4  "J. 

*  [So  WlLLUMS  :  "  This  dream  shows  how  mnch  the  mind 
of  the  spouse  was  occupied  with  the  object  of  her  atfection. 
He  was  the  subject  of  her  inquiry  both  by  day  and  by 
night."  BuRROWEs:  "This  illustrales  the  earnestness  of  a 
soul  in  seeking  Jesus  during  a  time  of  His  abseoce"]. 


3.  In  this  double  confession  of  a  love  faithful 
unto  death,  which  cannot  rest  until  its  longing  for 
a  complete  and  permanent  union  with  the  beloved 
object  is  appeased,  is  evidently  disclosed  the 
fundamental  thought  of  this  section  of  the  piece. 
For  the  epiphonema  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem (iii.  6)  which  is  here  again  added  as  the  con- 
cluding words  of  the  entire  act,  has  a  subordi- 
nate significance  as  a  refrain  repeated  verbatim 
from  ii.  7  and  only  appears  as  a  practical  infer- 
ence, with  the  limitations  due  to  the  time  and 
the  place  from  the  real  summit  of  contemplation 
before  ascended,  ver.  -1.  Applied  to  the  entire 
body  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  especially  to 
the  relation  of  the  New  Testament  child  of  God 
to  his  Lord  and  Saviour,  this  practical  inference 
must  necessarily  assume  a  somewhat  different  as 
well  as  deeper  and  broader  form  and  meaning 
than  in  its  relation  to  the  "daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem." In  the  case  of  Christians  the  meaning 
of  the  loving  desire  and  waiting  of  a  bride,  who 
can  no  longer  live  without  her  bridegroom,  who 
feels  herself  to  be  wholly  his  as  he  is  wholly 
hers,  and  who  will  then  first  be  satisfied  when 
his  house  has  become  hers,  and  her  house  his, — 
the  meaning  for  Christians  of  such  a  bride-like 
longing  is  just  a  powerful  admonition  to  strive 
after  a  complete  and  permanent  union  with  the 
Saviour  as  the  true  bridegroom  of  souls,  and  not 
to  let  Him  go  until  He  has  made  His  entry  into 
both  house  and  heart  with  all  the  fulness  of  His 
heavenly  gifts.  The  Christian  should  not  grow 
weary  of  longing  for  and  imploring  the  advent 
of  his  Lord  into  his  heart,  until,  become  en- 
tirely His  and  His  alone,  he  can  say,  "My  be- 
loved is  mine  and  I  am  his,"  until  he  feels  that 
his  soul  is  espoused  to  Him  as  the  bride  to  her 
bridegroom  (John  xiv.  23;  xvii.  21  ff.).  And  as 
the  Church,  in  so  far  as  she  is  the  true  and  pro- 
per bride  of  the  Lord,  cannot  cease  to  long  for 
His  glorious  appearing,  by  which  she  shall  be- 
come one  flesh  with  Him  for  ever  and  ever  (Eph 
v.  32;  2  Cor.  xi.  2;  Rev.  xxii.  17),  so  also  the 
soul  of  each  individual  Christian  should  be  ever 
saying  to  the  heavenly  bridegroom,  with  the 
fervent  petition  of  earnest  love,  "Come,  Lord 
Jesus;  come  quickly."  The  typical  exegete, 
whose  task  coincides  in  essential  particulars  with 
that  of  the  practical  expositor,  must  keep  him- 
self in  the  main  to  these  principal  and  funda- 
mental thoughts  as  suggested  by  the  contents  of 
this  section  devotionally  considered,  and  must 
most  carefully  avoid,  as  destitute  of  the  requisite 
exegelical  basis,  the  too  special  exposition  of  de 
tails,  such  as  e.  g.  the  reference  of  the  "  clefts  of 
the  rock,"  ii.  14,  to  the  wounds  of  Christ;  of  the 
"  little  foxes  "  to  heretics  and  other  seducers  ;  of 
the  "nights  "  to  dark  seasons  of  affliclion ;  of  the 
"watchmen"  to  angels,  etc.  Models  of  a  truly 
edifying  typical  treatment  of  the  Song  ,of  Solo- 
mon as  a  whole  and  of  the  present  section  in 
particular  maybe  found  in  those  precious  pearls 
belonging  to  the  hymnology  of  our  Evangelical 
Church,  which  have  drawn  their  loveliest  figures 
and  their  most  characteristic  and  leading  motives 
from  the  ideas  which  underlie  this  section,  with- 
out falling  into  a  too  labored  or  trifling  allegori- 
cal interpretation  of  subordinate  details,  e.  g. 
such  hymns  as  W.  C.  Dessler's  "Friend  of 
souls,  how  well  is  me,"  A.  Dbese's  "Bridegroom 


76 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


III.  6— V.  I 


of  souls,"   p.  Geehard's 
grieve  ?"    L.  Laurentius' 


'Why  then  should   I 
*'  Take   courage,   ye 


*  In  the  hymn  of  Scr[V£R  abive  quoted  the  refrain  at  the 
end  of  each  Btunza  is  *'  I  am  thine  und  thuu  art  mine,  I  will 
no  other's  be." — P.  iiERH\RD'd  "  Vt  liy  ihen  should  I  grieve  ?" 
ends  with  the  following  etauzis,  (suggestive  of  the  same  pas- 
•age  (Cant.  ii.  Oj,  as  well  as  of  iii.  4 : 

Lord,  ray  Shepherd,  fount  of  pleasure, 

Tbou  art  mine.  I  am  Thine, 
No  one  can  us  sever. 

I  am  Thine,  for  me  Thou  saveet, 
And  Thy  blond,  fur  my  good, 

On  the  Cross  Thou  gavest. 

ThOQ  art  mine,  and  I  embrace  Thee, 
Nought  has  might,  O  my  Light, 

From  my  heart  t'  erase  Thee. 

Let  me  come,  0  bring  me  thither; 

Tboa  with  me,  I  with  Thee, 
For  aye  shall  be  together. 


pious,"  Chr.  Scriter's  *'Life  of  my  soul,"*  etc 


In  Laurentids'  Advent  Hymn,  "Take  courage,  ye  pious,^ 
the  fourth  stanza,  which  describes  the  speedy  coming  of  tli» 
bridegruom,  is  baaed  upon  tlie  beautiful  description  of  tb* 
reviving  life  of  spring  ii.  ll-i;j; 

Ee'Il  not  be  long  delayed, 
Up  from  thy  sleep  arise; 
The  trees  in  bloom  arrayed. 

And  fair  spring's  brightening  skies 
Times  of  refreshing  pledge. 
Predicts  a  beauteous  day 
The  evening  bathed  in  red, 
The  darkness  flees  away,  etc. 
[As  samples  of  English  sacred  verse  suggested  by  this  portion 
of  the  Song  of  Solomon  may  be  mentioned  the  familiar  hymns 
of  Watt's.  "The  voice  of  my  beloved  sounds,"  "Hark'!  the 
Redeemer  from  on  high,"  "Often  I  seek  my  Lord  by  night," 
*'  Of  all  the  joys  we  mortals  know ;"  and  upon  the  Song  gene- 
rally Watts'  Hym/ns,  Book  I.  66-78.     Translations  of  some  of 
the  (Jerman  hymns  named  in  the  text  may  be  found  in  the 
Lyra  Germanica  and  in  Dr.  Sobaff'8  "Christ  in  Song." — Tr.] 


THIRD   SONG. 

The  solemn  bringing  of  the  Bride  and  the  marriage  at  JerutdUm, 

Chap.  III.  6.— V.  1. 

FIRST  SCENE: 

The  entry  of  the  bridal  pair  into  Jerusalem. 

(Chap.  III.  6-11). 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem  (as  spectators  of  the  bridal  procesaion). 

6  Who'  is  this  coming^  up  out  of  the  wilderness, 

like  pillars  of  smoke, 

perfumed^  with  myrrh  and  frankincense, 

with*  every  powder^  of  the  merchant? — 

7  Lo !®  Solomon's'  own  palanquin,^ 

sixty  heroes  about  it 
of  the  heroes^  of  Israel. 


textual  and  grammatical, 

>  fWic:  The  Synagogue, of  the  Church.  Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  Synagogue  marvelling  in  Itself  at  the  Charch  of 
ChristJ. 

*  [Dow. :  That  asceudeth  by  the  desert  as  a  little  roij. 

»  The  Masoretic  HIPPO,  for  which  H'^bpO  (Aq.,  Svmm.,  Volq.,  Luther,  Schlottm.  [so  Fry])  is  a  mere  shift  to  obtain 

an  easier  reading  is  nio-e  correctly  rendf  red '•surrounded  with  perfumes."  or  "  thoroughly  perfumed,"  than  with  boiiir 
recent  interpreters  "exiialiug  odori "  (Ew^ld,  Umbr.,  Meier,  Ren.),  [or  "fuming,"  Tatlor,  Williams];  comp.  Weissba'ih 
•n  ioc.  and  the  TtBvti.f.atLivt\  of  the  Sept.     [Gov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  As  it  were  a  smell  of]. 

*  This  cxpressioo  is  also  dependent  upon  n^l313   so  Ihat  1*3  in   730  is  consequently  not  comparative  (Dopkj:   ['■'* 

WiLUAMS.  Taylor,  doubtfully  suggested  also  by  Ains'worth],  but  partitive  as  in  i.2.  The  clause  if  completed  would  thi-rr- 
fore  read:  •'S-'lected  as  aromatic  powder  from  out  of  every  sort  of  aromatic  powder  of  the  merchant,  i.  f.  the  best  of  wll 
aromatic  powders." 

^np3f<    properly  denotes  simply  "dust,"  but  is  here  necessarily  the  dust  of  pounded  spices.     [Comp.  Eng.  Ver., 
Itt-; 
1  Ein.  X.  15.    Gov.,  Mat.,  Gran.,  All  manner  spices.    Dow.,  Aroraatical  spices.    Genev.,  All  the  spices]. 

*  [Wic,  Mat.  :  The  voice  of  the  Church].  , 

7  Literally:  "  Lo,  bis  palanquin  which  is  to  Solomon."     j}^  with  the  preceding  suffix  has  an  intensive  sigDification. 

■A  i.  6;  viii.  12. 

«  [So  rendered  by  Good.  Taylor,  Parkborst,  Wiluams,  Pry,  Withinotow,  Weiss..  OiNSBinio.  Habher  has  "liiter. 
palanquin  «»r  something  of  that  sort;"  so  Moody  Stoart,  Kobinsov  in  Ges.  />-a;.,  Davidson  in  Fuerst'-  Lex.  Notes;  Carriage, 
a  kind  (»f  open  vehicle  now  usually  called  a  palanquin;  Wicliffe:  litil  bed  (litter);  Matthews:  bedstead;  other 
English  veraitins:  bed.     Four  different  words  are  remk-rnd  "bed"  in  the  Mitho\\z*id  Engliih  rerjion  of  this  Song  :  HDD 

in  this  pasHage,  'W^^^  in  i.  16.  "2^^^  'Q  "'■  1-  ^i"'*  HJ^;?  (a  garden  bed)  in  v.  13 ;  vi.  2.— Tr.] 

»  Od  '^Klt?^    ""SiSJ  comp.  the  precisely  analogous  expression  "733    ^^13J  Jer.  Ii.  30. 


3--V.  1.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


8  All  of  them  practised*  with  the  sword,  trained  to  war,' 

each  with  his  sword  upon  his  thigh 
against*  fear  in  the  nights. 

9  A  litter*  has  king  Solomon  made  for  himself 

of  the  wood  of  Lebanon. 

10  Its  pillars  he  made  of  silver, 

it3  support^  of  gold,  its  seat®  of  purple; 
its  interior'  was  embroidered,  from  love, 
by  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  — 

11  Come®  out,  ye  daughters  of  Ziou,  and  see 

king  Solomon  with^  the  crown 

wherewith  his  mother  crowned  him  in  the  day  of  his  nuptials 

and  in  the  day  of  the  gladness  of  his  heart- 

SECOND  SCENE: 

Solomon  and  Shulamith  (at  the  wedding  feast  in  the  royal  palace). 

(Chap.  IV.  l.-V.  1.) 

Solomon. 

IV.  1.  ^"^Lo !  thou  art  fair,  ray  dear ;  lo !  thou  art  fair, 
thine  eyes  (are)  doves"  behind  thy  veil  ;^^ 

1  3Tn  ^TnX  Ii^  "taken  of  the  sworl,"  grasped,  held  by  the  aworil,  i.  p.  familiar  with  its  management,  practiseJl 
la  ita  use  ;  conip.  the  like  intransitive  use  of  passive  pirticiples  such  as  n^D3t  tOti')  "^O?  (P^*  ^'"- l"*'t  cxii.  7  ;  Judg. 

-  T        I  T  T 

Tiii.  11).  eis.  [Genev.  :  They  all  handle  the  sword.  Wicl.,  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  EnR.  versioiia :  holding  swords; 
ii]K>n  which  iiO'>:»  ri-marka:  "This  ia  ohviously  inaccurate;  for  in  the  next  member  of  the  verse  we  are  expressly  told  that 
their  s  ^urd^  w -re  undniwn  and  girt  upon  therr  thighs."  Hodgson:  " holders,  possessors  of  eworda,  that  ia,  warriors;" 
so  MoODV  Stuakt.     GiiNSUORG  :  "skilled  in  the  sword  "]. 

2  With    n^niO    ^n!D7D   comp.  the  Homeric  iiSaa-Kdjuei'os  iroAeftoio,  7^.16,811;  only  *T370   ia  a  past  participle. 

T  T  :    ■       ■•  :   \  :  *':*■.■ 

[Tin  Hebrew  paitictples  do  not,  properly  spe.iking,  express  relations  of  time.     Seo  Green's  Htb.  Oram.  ^  266], 

3  TO  'lere  has  the  sense  of  nVHO  "  that  there  may  not  be  terror,"  e/c.  [Good:  against  the  peril  of  the  night;  Thrupp: 
against  nightly  alarm].  Ewald*s  explanavion  "out  of  fear  "is  accordingly  to  be  rejected;  so  ia  that  of  RosENMnELLER. 
KiiPKR.  Vaihinoer,  etc.,  who  render  ro  because  of.    [So  Eng.  Ver].    Comp.  Tlrl    103  Ps.  xci.  5. 

*  [Wicl.  :  Of  Christ  and  of  the  Church  chosen  of  the  Gentiles.     He  renders  TV13K  "chair  ;"  Cov.,  Mat.:    bedstead  ; 

('rfAv.,  Bisa.:  palace;  Gensv.:  palace  or  cha,riot  (nwg.i;  Eno.  Ver.;  chariot  or  b 'd  (marg.);  Dow.:  portable  throne; 
iJojd:  bridal  C'liic  I ;  Willi\mj:  "'carri.ige."  whidi  he  oxplaiiii  as  a  "  kind  of  palanquin  of  state ;"  Moody  Stuart:  '-not 
a  wiieeied  carriaije  but  a  lit  er  or  iiahinquiu  ,"  Wordsworth  :  httor  or  palanquin  or  sedan ;  Taylor,  Fry,  Withington, 
'i'H.iijpp,  GiV:*uiJRg:  pilitiqun;  Wehs,  who  explains  it  ol"  thy  mo-it  holy  place  m  Sidomon's  temple  :  throne  cb  tmber]. 

*  ni^S"!  is   scarcely  the  cover,  the  canopy  of  the  sedan  (Ewau),  Maqn.j,  or  the  bjttom  of  ihj  couch  (VVtiaSBACH), 

T  • 
but  rather  its  support  for  the  back,  as  most  recent  interpreters  correctly  assume,  with  an  eye  to  the  Sept.  (ocaxAiTOF) 
iinl  ht  Vdlg.  {rectiniiOiritim).  [WiCL. :  the  le  luing  i)lace;  Gov.,  M\t..  Crvn.,  Bish.  :  niv-ring;  Genev.  ;  pavement ;  How  : 
M-**t;  so  Withivgton;  Kng.  Ver.;  bottom;  Good:  its  insidt)  (the  wrought  roof);  Taylor:  canopy;  Williams:  carpet; 
Fry:  mattress;  Hi  sburg  ;  supp.irt,  that  «hicli  supports  the  back  wnen  sitting;  so  Wordsworth,  Thrupp;  Noyes  ; 
r^iliag;  Weiss:  overlaying  (i.  c.  wainscot,  platuigj]. 

^  33^3  from  33"^  "  to  sit  upon  "  is  here  unmistakably  a  "  seat;'*  comp.  Lev.  xv.  9.    [Wicl.:  thesteiging  up,  identi- 
T  :  V  ~  T 

oal  in  sense  with  the  Oowat;  the  going  up,  i.  e  thn  perpendicular  sides;  Gov.,  Mat,  Cran.,  Bisn.:  seat,  so  Williams, 
Thp.dpp,  Noyes;  Oenev.;  hangings,  so  Good,  Fry,  Moody  Stuart,  Weiss;  Eng.  Ver.:  covering;  Taylor:  the  carriage 
bodyj. 

7  [Wicl.  :  Themidat  he  adorned  (Dow at  :  covered)  with  charity  (br  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem.  Cov.,  Mat.,  Cran.  : 
the  ground  pleasantly  paved  for,  etc.  liisa. :  the  ground  pleasantly  paved  wiih  love.  Genev.:  paved  with  ih«  love  ol  the 
dant^Ut'Ts,  etc.  Eng.  Ver.  :  paved  with  love  fur,  e;^c.  Williams:  lined  (Fry:  spread  over)  with  love  by,  etc.  Good:  its 
cov  jiing  is  paved  with  needle  work  by  his  best  beloved  among  the  daughters,  etc.  Note-*  :  its  interior  curiously  wrought 
by  a  iovely  one  of  the,  etc.  Ginsburq  :  teaaelated  most  lovely  by,  etc.  Thrupp;  tesselated  with  love  because  of,  etc. 
W^i.s-i:  within  it  is  strewn  of  love,  etc  ]. 

^  1  Wicl.:  The  voice  of  the  Church,  of  Christ.     Mat.:  The  Church  speaking  of  Christ].     n^XX  for  njXV  for  the 

TV:  T    V 

irtke  of  the  ass  'nance  here  designed  with  nj'N'l  ;  see  Ew.xld,  Lehrh.  g  198,  6.   [Green's  Heh.  Gram.  §164,  'A], 

T    '.■  ; 

9  [Wicl.,  Dow.:  in  the  diadem.    Thrupp:  gaze  on  kinir  Solomon  and  on  the  crown]. 

■'0  [Wicl.  'I'he  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.  Mat.  The  voice  of  Christ.  Mat.,  Cov.  :  0  how  fair  art  thou,  my  love ;  how 
fair  art  thou;  th  m  bastd  )ve"s  eyes  besides  that  which  lieth  hid  within.  Thy  hairy  locks  are  like  a  tlock  of  sheep  that  be 
clipped,  which  go  first  up  from  the  washing  place.] 

"  [Genev.  :  Thine  eyes  are  like  the  dove's.  Dow. ;  thine  eyes  aa  it  were  of  doves.  Eng.  Ver.  thon  haat  dove's  eyes.] 

12  EwALD  takes   ^^3^   to  be  synonymous  with  3*^00  and  713 V  in  the  seuse  of  "  tress,  lock  of  hair  "  (i.  e  "about 

■  ■  T     ■  T   - 

thy  locks,*'  similarlyalso  Uhbreit).     H  nosteN3.  follows  Ldthsr  in  trauslatiog  "between  thy  braids."     But  JTSV  relate  1 

lo  the  Ch.^ld.  DOV.  DVOV  "  to  coviir"  (com;..  T\RG.nn  Gr^n  xxwiii.  15.1  cannot,  a.^  appears  from  Isa.  xlvii.  2,  mean  any- 
thing bui  '•  veil ;"  and  this  meaning  decid.s  likewise  in  itip  c  wa  ui  1^30  in  lavjr  ot  the  signification  "  forth  from  be- 
hind *  or  "  through."  [Wicl.:  Without  it  Ibut  within  is  liM.  Dow.:  b^^ilps  that  which  lieth  hid  within.  Genev.  ''amoDg 
tliy  locks"  connected  with  whit  follow-.  Evi.  Vrk.,  witriiii  ih/  lo^:k4;  si  Ainsworth,  Good,  Taylor.  Fry:  tresses; 
Thkupp:   plaits;  Parkhurst  Percy,  Williams,  Wituinjton,  \V.:iss,  GiNsanao,  Wordsworth  :  veil]. 


■^  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  III.  6— V.  1. 

thy  hair  like  a  flock  of  goats, 
reposing*  on  Mount  Gilead. 

2  Thy  teeth  like  a  flock  of  shorn^  sheep, 

which  have  come  up  from  the  washing, 

all  of  which  bear^  twins, 

and  a  bereaved  one  is  not  among  them. 

3  Like  a  crimson  thread*  thy  lips, 

and  thy  mouth^  (is)  lovely ; 

like  a  piece  of  pomegranate  thy  cheek* 

behind  thy  veil. 

4  Like  the  tower  of  David  thy  neck, 

built  for  an  armoury  ;^ 

a  thousand  bucklers  are  hung  upon  it, 

all  the  shields®  of  heroes. 

5  Thy  two  breasts  are  like  two  fawns, 

twins  of  a  gazelle, 

that  are  feeding  among  lilies. 

Shulamith, 

6  UntiP  the  day  cools  and  the  shadows  flee, 

I  will  get  me  to  the  mountain  of  myrrh 
and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense. 

Solomon. 

7  Thou'**  art  all  fair,  my  dear, 

and  there  is  not  a  blemish  in  thee. — 

8  With  me  from  Lebanon,  my  bride, 

with  me  from  Lebanon  thou  shalt  come ; 
shalt  journey"  from  the  top  of  Amana, 
from  the  top  ofShenir  and  Hermon, 
from  dens'^  of  lions, 
from  mountains  of  panthers. 

9  Thou  hast  ravished'*  my  heart,  my  sister,  my  bride, 

hast  ravished  ray  heart  with  one  of  thy  glances, 
with  one  chain  of  thy  necklace. 

^  Literally,  *'  which  have  couched  {^ty7Jt7)  from  Mount  Gilead  downward  {'^V7}  IHO)  »'■  «■  not  "at  the  foot  "  of 

:lTv  t:* 

tbis  mountain,  but  on  it,  so  that  they  are  visible  to  the  beholder  in  a  line  from  Us  summit.  [Dow.  which  have  come  up 
from;  Cran.,  BiSH. :  are  mhnrn.  Genev.:  loon  diwii  trom  ;  Enu.  Ver.  appear  from,  or  eat  of  (marg  );  Parkhurst  :  glisten; 
Fry,  after  ScnuLTENs;  go  in  the  morning  to  wnter;  Withington,  han-c  over  the  clefts  of;  Thrupp.  hanging  down  the 
slope  of;  GiNSBURG  after  FUERSr  in  bis  Lf;x.  (not  his  Concord. where  he  baa  " decumbere,  cottsidere")  "springing  down."] 

^  niD-IVp  literally  ''  shorn  "  inz.:  sheep,  D'' /TT^  vi.  6.    [Cran.  :  Thy  teeth  are  like  sheep  of  the  same  bigness,  which 

went  up  from  the  washing  place.    Genev.  :  a  flock  of  sheep  in  gnod  order. 

3  (^GiNBB.  '•  paired ,  the  Uiphil  of  DXj"1  t"  ^^  double,  to  be  pairs  (Ex.  xxvi.  24 ;  xxzvi.  29)  is  to  make  double,  to  make  pairs, 

-   T 

to  appear  paired."  Fry  quotes  from  Henley's  note  in  Gregory's  translation  of  Lowra'S  Lectures;  "  The  Arabic  v*Tb 
denotes  not  only  to  bring  forth  twins,  but  also  to  have  a  companion."] 

*  (Dow.:  Scarlet  lace;  Gov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bish.,  rose-culored  ribbon;  Genev.,  Eng.  Ver.,  thread  of  scarlet.] 

6  [WiCL. ;  thy  fair  speech  sweet ;  Cov.,  Mat.,  thy  words  are  lovely ;  Genet.  ;  thy  talk  is  comely  ;  Eng. Ver.  thy  speech  is 
comely.] 

*  I  WicL.,  Cov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bish.,  Dow.  ;  cheeks.    Genev.,  Eng.  Ver.  temples.] 

'  [WiCL. :  with  pinuacles.     Gov.,  Mat.,  Dow.:  with  bulwarks.     Cran.,  Bisn. ;  with  costly  stones  lying  out  on  the  s^iiifs. 

Genev.,  for  defence.    Ginsburg  follows  Rashi  and  Rashbam  in  taking  r\r37n  as  a  contraction  for  nV£)7Nn  fromnSN 

to  teach,  and  renders  :  ''for  the  builder's  model,  i.  e.  so  that  architects  might  learn  thefr  designs  from  itl  "] 

8[WicL.  The  armor  of  strong  men.  Gov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bise. :  the  weapons  of  the  giitnts.  Dow. :  the  armor  of  the 
valiants.] 

*  [Mat.  The  spouse  speaketh  to  himself  0  that  I  might  go  to  the  mountain  of  myrrh  and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense 
till  the  day  break  and  the  HhaHows  lie  past  iiway.] 

i*^  [Mat.  The  voice  of  Christ  speaking  tn  the  church.] 

'1  ^"l^tyn  parallel  with    ^NOH  must  be  derived  from  ^H]^  in  the  sense  of  "jonrneying,  travelling,"  confirmed  by 

T  ■  T 

Isa.  Ivii.  9,  not  in  that  of  "  looking"  (for  which  it  is  true  Num.  xxiii.9,  might  be  adduced);  comp.SEPT.  (eAevuTj  Koi  SteAevafj-. 
Svr.,  KiJST.,  Magn.,  BiJTrcu,  IIitz  .  e/c.  [This  argument  cannot  be  esteemed  decisive  except  ujjon  tlie  assumption  tlint 
parallol  clauses  must  lie  identical  in  signiticatii^n,  which  is  nut  always  nor  even  usually  the  case.  WiCL..  Dow.:  thou  l^haU 
be  crowned.    Other  Eng.  Versions,  look]. 

'3  [WjcL.  from  the  coi'ching  lions  and  the  hill  of  paradise.  Witiiinqton:  from  the  cottages  of  Araotfa,  from  the  bills  of 
Nemalrim].  .  , 

'3  In  relation  to  this  privative  sense  of  33/  comp.  e.  g.   7pD  *'  to  free   from  stones  "  (Isa.  v.  2),  tS^^t^  "  to  uproot " 

fPs.  Hi,  7  ;  Job  xxxi.  12^,  f.ic  ;  and  f'r  the  thnu-^ht  comp.  Ovid's  *oculos^qui  rapufre  meos  "  and  the  Greek  0c'Ay«"'  which 
differs  from  ^aa-Kaiveiv  in  expressing  an  enclmntment  by  love.  [WiCL.,  Gov.,  M\t.,  Genev.,  Dow.,  wounded,  k  ran..  Bish., 
bewitched.  Kng.  Veh.  marg.:  tiiken  away.  Ginsu.:  oinb»Idened.  Noyes;  taken  captive.  Weiss,  who  compares  theOer- 
Djftii  herzen  (o  press  to  the  Iienrt :  cherished.] 


III.  6— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


7b 


10  How  fair  is  thy  love,'  my  sister,  my  bride, 

how  much  better  thy  love  than  wine, 

and  the  fragrance  of  thy  unguents  than  all  spices. 

11  Liquid  honey  thy  lips  distil,  my  bride, 

honey  and  milk  are  under  thy  tongue, 

and  the  fragrauceof  thy  garments  is  like  the  fragrance  of  Lebanon.' 

12  A  garden  locked'  is  my  sister,  my  bride, 

a  spring  locked,  a  fountain  sealed. 

13  Thy  plants  are  an  orchard  of  pomegranates, 

with  most  excellent  fruit; 
cypress  flowers  with  nards, 

14  Nard  and  crocus,  calamus  and  cinnamon, 

with  every  variety  of  incense-woods ; 

myrrh  and  aloes, 

with  all  the  chief  spice  plants. 

15  A  garden  spring*  art  thou,  a  well  of  living  water, 

and  streams'  from  Lebanon. 

Shulamith. 

16  Awake,'  north  wind,  and  come  thou  south, 

blow  upon  my  garden  that  its  spices'  may  flow ! 
Let"  my  beloved  come  to  his  garden 
and  eat  his  excellent  fruits.' 

Solomon. 
V.  1  1'°  come  to  my  garden,  my  sister,  my  bride, 
I  pluck  ray  myrrh  with  my  balsam, 
I  eat  my  honeycomb"  with  my  honey, 
I  drink  my  wine  with  my  milk. — 

{turning  to  the  wedding  guests)  : 
Eat'^  friends,  drink,''  and  drink  to  repletion,  beloved. 

*  rWlCL.  teats.  Gov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bish.,  Dott.  :  breasts]. 

*  I  VVlCL.  incense.  Cov.,  Mat  .  Dow.:  frHukincense.J 

3  I  Eng.  Ver.  inclosed,  or  barred  ( inarg).  Cov.,  Mat.  :  Thou  art  a  well-kept  garden,  O  my  sister,  my  spOQse,  thou  art  a 
well  kept  water  spring,  a  sealed  well.  The  fruits  that  sprout  in  thee  are  like  a  very  paradise  of  pomegranates  with 
sweet  fruits.] 

*  [Thrupp  proposes  a  needless  change  of  text;  '*  The  Hebrew  text  has  □"'J  J  T^^'O  *  a  fountain  of  gardens."     This  seems 

inappropriate  ;  partly  because  the  introduction  of  the  '  gardens '  tends  to  confusion  with  the  previous  image,  partly  because 
as  that  spoke  of  "a  garden  '   in  the  singular,  we  should  hardly  here  have  mention  of  'gardens  '  iu  the  plural.  Houbigant 

conjectured  with  unusual  felicity,  that  for  □"'JJ  we  shouldread  D' 7j  :  and  (his  though  unconfirmed  by  external  authority, 
has  so  striiDiilv  the  appearance  of  being  the  true  reading,  that  we  may  without  much  rashness  venture  to  accept  it.  Tiie 
word  denotes  the  waves  of  the  fountniu  continually  welling  upwards.] 

*  ICov.,  M\t  .  Cran.,  Bisti.:  which  run  down.     Dow.:  which  run  with  violence.] 
«  [Mat.  Christ  callelh  the  heathen.] 

^  [  D''0U'3,  here  uot  the  solid  aromatic  substances  themselves  as  ver.  14,  but  the  odors  streaming  front  them  ;  Or 

the  assonance  with  D*  7T3  ver.  15,  appears  to  be  intentional.    fCov.,  M-AT.,  Cr.an.,  Bish.;  the  smell  thereof  may  be  carried 

on  every  side.] 

8  (In  Wicliffe'3  and  the  Doway  Biblb  as  in  the  VraoATE  the  fifth  chapter  begins  here.  Wict.  The  church  saitli  of 
Christ.] 

9  ICov.,  Mat.  :  eat  of  the  fruits  and  apples  that  grow  therein.    Dow.;  fruits  of  his  apple  trees.] 

10[W1CL.:  Christ  saith  to  the  church.  Mat.:  Christ  speaketh  to  the  church.  WiCL.,  Cov.,  Mat.  :  Come  into  ray  garden  0 
my  lister,  my  spouse.] 

"  [  l^*"  lit.  "a  wood,  thicket"  here  denotes  the  honey-comb,  as  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  27  the  feminine  form  rT^J^^    (IT^l?^ 

E'Oin)  prop,  the  rough  or  harsh  in  honey  in  contrast  with  the  smoothly  flowing.] 

'2  rWicL.  Christ  to  the  Apostles  saith.    Mat.  Christ  speaketh  to  the  .\postles.] 

isfWicL.:  be  inwardly  made  drunken.  Cov.,  Mat.,  Oban,  Bise.:  lie  merry,  O  ye  beloved.  Oenev.  :  make  yon  merry,  0 
well-beloved.    Enq.  Ver.:  drink  abundantly, O  beloved;  marg.  be  drunken  with  loves.] 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

1.  The  contents  of  this  section  rightly  under- 
stood, place  it  beyond  doubt  th.at  iii.  6-11  de- 
scribes a  brid.ll  procession,  i.  «.,  the  solemn  bring- 
ing of  a  bride  to  her  marriage,  and  iv.  1 — v.  1 
the  marriage  itself,  or  more  exiictly  the  loving 
conversation  of  the   newly  wedded  pair  at  their 


nuptial  feast.  The  dramatic  vividness  and 
life  of  the  description  reaches  its  highest  point 
precisely  in  this  middle  section  of  the  piece, 
and  in  fact,  Renan  seems  to  be  not  altogether 
wrong  when  he  says  of  it,  or  at  least  of  its  first 
scene  (iii,  (>— 11):  '*No  portion  bears  so  many 
traces  as  this  of  a  real  representatiotj,  and  even 
of  a  certain  amount  of  stage  apparatus  and  of 
costumes."  Yet  the  thought  of  an  actual  perform- 


90 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


III.  C- 


ance  (even  if  only  in  the  private  circle  of  a 
family  engaged  in  a  wedding  feast,  as  Renan 
proposes,  pp.  83,  tt. )  is  forbidden  first  by  the  fact 
that  the  dramatic  style  is  not  sutficiently  sustained 
in  the  other  acts,  e.  g.  that  which  immediately 
precedes  with  its  simple  monologue;  and  second- 
ly by  the  scanty  change  of  person  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  dialogue  in  both  the  scenes  of  this 
act,  which  is  more  lyrical  and  subjective  than 
dramatic  and  objective.  For  in  the  first  instance 
with  regard  to  iii.  6-11,  the  speaker  in  this  sec- 
tion, although  not  tlie  poet  himself  (Herder, 
Umbreit),  is  simply  the  band  of  the  "daughters 
of  Zion,'' ver.  11,  whilst  the  priucipal  personages, 
Solomon  and  Sliulamith,  remain  niere  objects  of 
sight  to  these  women  of  Jerusalem,  and  attended 
by  a  brilliant  retinue  pass  mutely  over  the  stage. 
Now  since  the  spectators  designated  in  ver.  11 
as  the  daughters  of  Zion,  are  scarcely  different 
from  the  "daughters  of  Jerusalem"  elsewhere 
introduced  (comp.  on  ver.  11),  and  little  or  noth- 
ing that  is  well  founded  can  be  alleged  in  favor 
of  the  assumption  of  those  recent  writers,  who 
conceive  the  speakers  to  be  "  citizens"  or  "resi- 
dents" of  Jerusalem  (Ewald,  Maosos,  De- 
LiTzscH,  HiTziQ,  Ren.^n),  or  "men  and  women" 
alternately  (Bottcher),  or  "courtiers  of  Solo- 
mon" even  (Weissbach),  itisjust  the  chorus  of 
the  piece  that  speaks  exclusively  in  this  scene, 
the  same  chorus  which  made  its  appearance  both 
speaking  and  acting  only  in  the  first  part  of  the 
first  act,  while  in  the  second  part  it  withdrew 
more  into  the  background,  and  in  the  second  act 
dill  not  come  into  view  at  all.  A  partition  of 
the  several  utterances  contained  in  the  four 
strophes  of  the  section  (ver.  6,  vers.  7,  8,  vers. 
9,  10,  ver.  11)  among  different  persons  or  groups 
of  persons  in  the  chorus  is  perhaps  admissible. 
and  this  most  probably  so  that  the  first  three 
strophes  may  with  Delitzsch  be  put  into  the 
mouth  of  different  particular  groups,  and  the 
last  (ver.  11)  assigned  to  the  wliole  body  of 
spectators,  or  to  "the  entire  festive  multitude  " 
Vet  no  greater  multiplicity  or  life  is  thus  gained 
for  the  action  after  all,  for  the  discourse  con- 
tinues nevertheless  to  be  limited  exclusively  to 
the  persons  of  the  chorus. — Again  in  iv.  1 — v.  1 
it  is  only  Solomon  and  Shulamith,  who  are  en- 
gaged in  conversation,  although  they  are  not 
;»lone.  but  as  v.  1  shows,  in  company  with  the 
merrily  feasting  wedding  guests.  The  alteuipts 
of  HiTzio  and  Renan  to  bring  more  life  and  va- 
riety into  the  action  by  introducing  the  shepherd 
from  ver.  8  onward,  are  to  be  rejected  as  empty 
conceits ;  especially  that  of  the  latter  who  makes 
the  shepherd  stand  "at  the  foot  of  the  seraglio- 
tower  "  [an pied  de  la  tour  de  atrail)  as  a  languish- 
ing lover,  and  speak  all  from  ver.  &  to  ver.  16a 
to  his  beloved,  until  she  finally  grants  him  ad- 
mission, and  he  then  v.  1  "celebrate*  together 
with  the  chorus  the  triumph  of  his  love"  (simi- 
larly also  Bottcher).  The  wht>le  impression 
especially  of  what  the  enraptured  bridegroom 
says  in  his  description  of  the  charms  of  his  bride 
(iv.  1  ff.,  9  ff.)  is  that  of  an  extremely  simple- 
action,  which  aims  at  a  description  of  the  feelings 
of  the  loving  pair  at  the  celebration  of  their  mar- 
riage and  the  utterances  of  their  emotion  far 
more  than  at  an  exhibition  of  what  tbey  did,  and 
consequently   betrays   again   more  of  a  lyricil 


than  a  strictly  dramatic  character.  But  even  if 
there  really  were  reason  to  assume  a  scenic  rep- 
resentation or  at  least  a  seriously  intended 
destination  to  that  end,  no  such  indecent  contents 
could  in  any  case  be  admitted  in  this  representa- 
tion, as  HiTzia  and  Renan  maintain,  the  former 
by  his  assertion  that  with  what  the  bridegroom 
says  V.  1  his  conjugal  embrace  of  the  bride 
begins  before  the  eyes  of  the  spectators  (!) ;  the 
latter  by  his  remark  upon  what  he  takes  to  be  the 
words  of  the  shepherd  "  11  se  rassure  sur  ta 
fidilite  (.'),  etc.  With  as  little  propriety  could  a 
burlesque  character  be  attributed  to  the  repre- 
sentation, as  is  done  by  Bottcher,  who  e.  g.  sees 
in  V.  \c  a  direction  from  the  shepherd  to  his 
comrades  to  fall  upon  the  wine  and  the  provi- 
sions of  the  wedding  table  and  to  drink  them- 
selves drunk. — Moreover  the  bride  is  with  most 
of  the  recent  interpreters  (even  Umbreit,  Ewald, 
Vaihinger,  Renax,  and  most  of  the  other  advo- 
cates of  the  shepherd-hypothesis)  to  be  supposed 
to  be  no  other  than  Shulamith,  and  she  exalted 
to  the  rank  of  a  queen  in  the  proper  sense,  a 
wife  of  Solomon  preferred  before  all  others,  as  is 
shown  by  the  appellation  "my  sister  bride," 
which  is  first  used  in  iv.  9  ff.,  and  further  by 
the  passage  vi.  8,  9,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  Shu- 
lamith is  subsequently  denominated  a  "prince's 
daughter,"  vii.  2.  Neither  iii.  6  where  "out  of 
the  wilderness"  is  by  no  means  to  be  explained 
of  a  coming  of  the  bride  from  the  south,  nor  iii. 
11  (see  in  loc.)  stands  opposed  to  this  assumption 
or  compels  a  return  to  tlie  opinion  of  many  of  the 
older  writers  that  the  bride  was  a  daughter  of 
Pharaoh  coming  up  from  Egypt.  Solomon  is  be- 
sides to  be  thought  of  as  participating  in  the 
festive  procession,  whether  we  imagine  him 
seated  in  the  sedan  along  with  his  bride  or  on 
horseback  at  the  side  of  it.  For  the  marriage 
customs  of  ancient  Israel  required  (comp.  1  Mace, 
ix  37,  39,  and  see  above,  p.  60)  the  bridegroom 
to  bring  the  bride  from  the  house  of  her  parents 
wiih  an  honorable  escort  even  though  the  distance 
from  thence  to  his  residence  amounted  to  one 
or  to  several  days' journey.  And  an  intimation 
appears  to  be  contained  (ver.  8)  in  the  mention 
of  the  "terrors  of  the  nights"  (see  in  loc.)  that 
he  had  in  fact  conducted  her  by  a  march  of  several 
diiys  to  Jerusalem,  and  consequently  had  him- 
self brought  her  from  her  home  in  Shunem. 
.Against  the  view  of  Delitzsch  and  Schlottmann 
(••  Der  Brautzug  des  Hohenlieds,"  Stud,  und Krit., 
1867,  11.,  239  f.)  that  Solomon  himself  was  not 
with  the  bridal  procession,  but  simply  awaited 
its  arrival,  and  at  length,  when  it  liad  come  near 
enough,  went  forth  from  his  palace  to  show  him- 
self to  the  bride  and  likewise  to  the  festive  mul- 
titude, may  be  urged  not  indeed  the  mention  of 
the  "  sedan  of  Solomon  "  in  ver.  7,  for  this  is  not 
necessarily  a  sedan  in  which  Solomon  himself  is 
sitting,  but  the  circumstance  that  Solomon  is 
nventioned  (ver.  11)  in  a  manner  which  implies 
that  he  was  with  the  festive  procession  rather 
than  going  to  meet  it  or  receiving  it  at  the  door 
of  his  palace.  The  contents  of  the  preceding  act 
had  also  prepared  the  way  for  Solomon's  going 
to  Shulamith  and  fetching  her  to  Jerusalem  him- 
self, comp.  p.  60. — After  what  has  been  already 
remarked,  there  can  be  no  further  doubt  respect- 
ing tlie  locality  of  the  two  scenes.     In  iii.  6-11 


III.  6— V.   1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


81 


it  ia  some  street  in  Jerusalem,  or  more  exactly 
(see  ver.  6)  an  open  area  at  one  of  the  gates  of 
the  city,  commanding  a  prospect  of  the  desert 
region  stretching  north-east  from  the  city  toward 
Jericho  (comp.  Delitzsch's  somewhat  too  in- 
definite statement  of  the  scene:  "Neighborhood 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  city  itself").  In  iv.  1  to  v. 
1,  however,  it  is  the  wedding  hall  of  the  royal 
palace,  in  which  the  newly  married  pair  carry 
on  their  cosy  talk  somewhat  apart  from  the 
guests  sitting  at  the  festive  table;  a  hall  which 
we  must  perhaps  conceive  (see  on  iv.  6)  to  have 
been  immediately  adjoining  a  garden  and  open 
outwards  like  the  locality  in  the  first  act. — -Be- 
1  ween  scene  1  and  2  we  may  perhaps  suppose  the 
marriage  ceremony  to  have  been  performed  by 
some  of  the  priestly  order;  for  according  lo 
Prov.  ii.  17  ;  Mai.  ii.  14,  such  a  religious  act  un- 
doubtedly took  place  at  the  weddings  of  the  an- 
cieut  Hebrews  (see  the  exegetical  explanation  of 
the  former  passage,  in  the  commenl.iry  ou  Pro- 
verbs) ;  and  in  chap,  iv  Solomon  no  longer  speaks 
to  liis  beloved  as  if  they  were  simply  betrothed, 
but  as  if  they  were  actually  married,  see  especially 
ver.  12  ff.  With  no  valid  reasons  for  it  Hitzio 
makes  the  wedding  ceremony  take  place  between 
iv.  8  and  9.  For  the  allegation  that  the  language 
of  Solomon  does  not  become  really  "fond,  affect- 
ing and  languishing  "  until  ver.  9  is  purely  sub- 
jective, and  is  not  verified  by  the  contents  of  vers. 
9-l(j,  comp.  with  vers.  1-7;  and  even  if  it  were 
correct,  it  would  not  prove  that  a  pause  is  to  be 
assumed  between  vers.  8  and  9  to  be  filled  up  by 
the  solemnization  of  the  marriage. 

'2.  The  bkid.il  procession,  iii.  6-11. — First 
Strophe,  ver.  6. 

Ver.  6.  Who  ia  this  coming  up  out  of 
the  wilderness?  This  "exclamation  of  ad- 
miration and  praise"'  ("yoz  de  admiracion  y  de 
laor"  according  to  Lnis  DE  Leon)  certainly  does 
not  refer  to  the  sedan  of  Solomon  approaching 
the  city  (HiTZiG,  Weissbach)  any  more  than  it 
does  to  Solomon  with  his  retinue,  as  though 
r\V,\  'p  were  here  to  be  taken  as  a  neuter :  "  what 
is  this,"  etc.,  (Ewald  and  others);  [so  Percy, 
tlooD,  Taylor,  Williams,  Ginsburq].  The  an- 
swer to  the  question  here,  as  in  the  two  passages 
(vi.  10  and  viii.  5)  where  it  recurs  verbatim,  can 
be  no  other  than  "Shulamith,"  the  expected  bride 
of  I  lie  king,  the  heroine  of  the  day,  the  prime  ob- 
ject of  interest  and  of  curiosity  to  the  residents 
of  Jerusalem  (correctly  explained  by  all  the  older 
interpreters  and  among  the  more  recent  by 
Delitzsch,  Vaihinger,  Hengstenbeho,  Schlott- 
MANN,  etc.).  It  is  in  their  name  and  as  expres- 
sive of  their  feelings  that  the  chorus  now  speaks. 

The  verb  "come  up,"  literally  "ascend"  (H/j?) 
simply  denotes  the  ascent  from  the  lower  level 
of  the  surrounding  country  to  the  city  situated 
upon  a  high  mountain  (comp.  1  Kin.  xii.  28,  etc.), 
not  the  perpendicular  ascent  of  the  pillar  of 
smoke,  with  which  Shulamith  is  compared  in 
what  follows,  (Hitzig,  Weissbach.)  —  Upon 
"'2!l"Dr|-[0  Schlottmann  correctly  remarks : 
■•  ■  From  the  wilderness'  is  merely  intended  to  sug- 
gest a  general  conception  as  if  in  describing  a 
similar  entry  into  one  of  our  cities  we  were  to 
say  -from  the  country.'  The  immediate  vicinity 
•f  ancient   Jerusalem   was  richly   adorned   with 


gardens   and  orchards,  such  as  are   not  wholly 
wanting  even    now."      For   proof   that   an    ex- 
tremely desolate  and  barren  rocky  waste  lies  be- 
tween Jerusalem  and  Jericho,  and  consequently 
in  the  very  direction  from  which  tlie  festive  pro- 
cession coming  from  the  north  of  Palestine  must 
approach  the  city,  comp.  the  unanimous  accounts 
of  modern   travellers  in   Palestine,  e.g.,  one  of 
the   latest,    K.    Furrers    ( Wanderuns/en,  etc.,  p. 
147)  :   "How  silent  and  solitary  it  was  here,  (viz., 
immediately  beyond    Bethany)  1      We  looked  in 
vain  for  a  hut.     Briers  and  fragments   of  rock 
covered  the  declivities.     Yet  even  in  this  barren 
region   small  flocks   of  sheep  and    goats    found 
here  and  there  a  scanty  subsistence,"  etc.     Comp. 
also  Robinson's   Physical  Geography  of  the  Holy 
Land. — Like  pillars  of  smoke.     ]2'J?  nlip'O 
(or    [t^i'  nnpn,  Joel   iii.  3)   are   neither    "  ela- 
tioaenjumi"  as  though  the  root,  from  which    it  is 
derived,  were  ■10'=1!3X  "  to  be  high  "  (Ewald, 
Weissbach),  nor    "clouds  of  smoke,  whirls   of 
smoke  "  (from  10''^"11D  agitatusfuit, — Hengsten- 
berg),  but  palm-like  high  and  slender  pillars  of 
&moke,  as    is  shown  by   the  unmistakably  close 
affinity    between  mOTI    and  TDn   "palm"   [so 
BuRROWES,  Weiss].       The  expression    is,  there- 
fore, a  poetical  and  descriptive    synonym  of  the 
prosaic  ]tyi'  "VB^  "pillar  of  smoke"  Judg.  xx. 
40.     Comp.    Kleuker  :   ".\  vertically  ascending 
column  of  steam,  which  spreads  out  at  the   top 
into  small  clouds,  has  the  shape  of  a  palm-tree, 
whose   upright  trunk    first  rises    in  like  manner 
high  in  the  air  and  then  divides  into  a  like  bushy 
crown."     The  tertium  comparationis  in  the  com- 
parison of  the  approaching  bride  of  the  king  with 
pillars  of  smoke  is  moreover  two-fold:   it  is  in- 
tended to  set   forth  her  slender,  stately   appear- 
ance  and    the    dense   volume  of  rare    perfumes 
which  stream   forth  from    her  (or  her  sedan)  to 
delight  the   sense   (comp.  Sciilott.mann  in  loc). 
In  the  worst  possible   taste,  Hitzig  :   The  figure 
has  reference  to  the  sedan,  which  is  to   be  con- 
ceived of  as  "perhaps  higher  than  it  was  long," 
and,  since   it  rested  on  the  shoulders  of  its  tall 
bearers,    as    "projecting     perpendicularly    up- 
wards." —  Perfumed  writh  myrrh   and  in- 
cense.   As  I'rov.  vii.  17  a  bed  and  Ps.  xlv.  9  the 
garments  of  the  royal  bridegroom,  so    here  the 
bride  coming  to  her  wedding  or  more  particularly 
her  sedan  and  her  dress  are  filled  with  refresh- 
ing perfumes  (Prov.  xxvii.  9).    Comp.  what  Cur- 
tius   RuFrs   (VIII.   9,   23)    relates    of  aromatic 
fumigations  in  the  public  processions  of  the  kings 
of  ancient   India,   as    well    as   the  accounts    of 
modern  travellers,  such  as   Tavernier,  etc.,  res- 
pecting   the    custom    formerly    in    vogue   at  the 
Turkish  court  in  Constantinople  of  burning  in- 
cense and  aloes   in  silver   chafing  dishes    at  the 
formal     reception     of     foreign      ambassadors  * 
^Soii.MiDT,  Bibl.  Geographus,  p.  78). 

*  ["  The  bride  of  Solomon  is  represpnted  here  as  perfumed 
in  a.  solemn  procession  made  upon  occasion  of  the  king's  en- 
tering with  her  into  Jerusalem.  The  virgins  went  out  to  meet 
them,  iii.  11 ;  they  burnt  odors  before  them  with  a  profusion 
that  became  a  royal  wedding,  so  that  the  smoke  ascended  like 
pillars.  Or  these  pillars  of  smoke  may  refer  to  the  burning 
perfumes  in  Jerusalem  as  a  preparative  for  the  reception  of 
the  royal  pair."'  Habmer.  "The  bride  waa  so  richly  pro- 
vided with  perfumes  that  they  curled  up  in  dense  columns  of 
smoke,  visible  at  a  distance  as  the  procession  moved  along." 
Thrcpp.    "It  is  commonly  supposed  that  the  slender  and 


•<2 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


III.  6— V.   1. 


Second  Strophe,  vers.  7,  8  (probably  spoken 
by  a  different  group  of  tbe  women  of  Jerusalem 
from  the  first,  comp.  above  No.  1.) 

Ver.  7.  lio!  Solomon's  ovrn  palanquin.* — 
Tbe  spectators  beboUiuf;  the  procession  now  al- 
ready quite  near,  perceive  that  the  magnificent 
couch  in  tbe  centre  of  it  belongs  to  no  less  a  per- 
son than  Solomon  himself,  and  hence  immediately 
infer  the  high  rank  of  her  who  sits  within  i(, 
which  is  made  still  more  apparent  by  tlie  splen- 
did surroundings  of  the  palanquin. — Sixty  he- 
roes about  it  of  the  heroes  of  Israel — i.  e., 
probably  from  the  number  of  those  six  hundred 
heroes  or  "mighty  men"  (D")13J),  with  whom 
David  had  surrounded  himself  as  bis  guard  of 
honor  or  his  general  staff  (comp.  2  Sam.  x.  7 ; 
[xv.  18]  ;  xvi.  6  ;  xx.  7  ;  xxiii.  8  ff. )  and  which 
undoubtedly  still  formed  under  Solomon  the 
flower  of  the  Israelitish  army,  or  in  part  at 
least,  a  sort  of  standing  body-guard  about  the 
king  (comp.  2  Sam.  xv.  1  ;  1  Kings  i.  6).  At  any 
rate,  the  sixty  heroes  here  appear  as  a  guard  of 
honor,  which  had  attended  him  on  bis  bridal 
journey  for  his  beloved. f 

Ver.  "8.  Against  fear  in  the  nights— 
t.  «.,  that  fear  may  not  be  excited  in  tbe 
nights ;  for  "in?  is  not  objective  terror,  that  which 
produces  terror  (Delitzsch,  Hengstenberg.) 
[Ginsbhrg],  but  subjective  terror,  being  fright- 
ened out  of  sleep  (Job  iv.  14;  Ruth  iii.  8).  The 
meaning  is  evidently  this  :  to  secure  her  while 
travelling  from  sudden  alarm  and  consequent 
disturbance  of  her  slumber  at  night  upon  her  way 
to  Jerusalem  (not  after  her  arrival  there,  as  HiT- 
zio  claims),  tbe  sixty  sword-begirt  heroes  were 

graceful  form  of  the  bride  gradmlly  increasing  in  tallness  as 
Blie  came  nearer,  is  compared  to  the  light  and  beautiful  column 
of  smolie  which  ascends  from  a  burning  censer  of  incense. 
But  is  it  not  more  prolwble  that  the  dust  caused  by  the  ap- 
proach of  the  sedan  and  its  attendants  is  compared  to  columns 
of  smoke  ?  Or  might  not  the  pillars  of  smoke  actually  ascend 
from  censers  borne  iu  front  of  the  procession?"  Notes.  The 
Genevan  version  here  has  this  note:  "This  is  referred  to  the 
church  of  Israel  which  was  led  by  the  wilderness  forty  years." 
"  The  reference  is  evident  to  the  marching  of  the  children  of 
Israel  through  the  wilderness,  with  the  pillar  of  cloud  before 
them  and  with  the  pillars  of  smoke  ascending  from  the  altar 
of  incense  in  the  sight  of  the  priests,  and  from  the  altar  of 
atonement  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel  "  Moonr  Stuart.  So  al- 
legorical interpreters  generally,  who  find  in  this  one  of  the  indi- 
cations of  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  Song.  "  She  came 
perfumed  with  myrrh  and  frankincense,  because  myrrh  was 
one  of  the  principal  ingredients  in  her  holy  ointment  (Ex. 
XXX.  22 ),  and  incense  was  offered  constantly  on  the  golden  altar 
before  the  veil ;  and  because  myrrh  is  the  symbol  of  the  death 
and  burial  to  which  Christ  condescended  as  man ;  and  because 
frankincense  is  the  type  of  prayer  offered  by  Him  as  our 
priest  and  offered  to  Him  as  God.  And  she  is  perfumed  with  all 
the  powders  or  spices  of  the  merchant  because  all  the  glories 
of  the  ancient  ritual  are  spiritualized  in  the  gospel."  Woeds- 

WORTU.J 

*  ["A  travelling  litter  is  here  intended."  Thbupp.  "Either 
a  howdah,  to  be  borne  on  the  back  of  a  camel  instead  of  an 
elephant,  or  a  palanquin  to  be  carried  on  tht-  shoulders  of 
men,  or  to  be  borne  as  a  litter  between  two  camels,  horses  or 
mules."  KiTTO.  WotiDswoRTH  follows  Hengstenberg  in  sup- 
posing an  allusion  to  the  marriage  bed,  which  is  manifestly  at 
variance  with  the  context. — Tr.] 

t  ITbrupp  after  Patrick  :  "The  number  of  David's  heroes, 
'  thirty  and  seven  in  all.'  was  exactly  thirty  exclusive  of  those 
who  stood  superior  to  the  rest  in  rank ;  and  if  the  number 
three-score  have  any  definite  meaning  in  the  present  verse,  it 
is  probably  to  be  taken  as  the  double  of  the  number  of  the  he- 
roes of  David's  reign.  A  comparison,  however,  of  this  verse 
with  vi.  8  m.iy  furnish  ground  for  regarding  sixty  as  a  deter- 
minate numlKT  used  for  an  indeterminate."  Wordswortfi 
allegorizes  thus:  "twice  thirty,  twice  David's  numl»er,  be- 
cause the  two  armies  of  Christ  s  soldiers  (viz.:  the  tientile  and 
the  Jew)  are  here  represented  as  united  in  the  army  ot  the 
jwaceful  Solomon,  Christ."] 


assigned  to  her  as  her  escort.  As  the  journey 
from  Shunem  to  Jerusalem  amounts  to  about  fifty 
miles  in  a  direct  course,  and  consequently  made 
it  necessary  to  pass  at  least  one  and  perhaps  two 
nights  on  the  route,  and  this  very  probably  in  a 
wild  solitary  region  (13"133,  ver.  6),  such  a  mili- 
tary escort  was  by  no  means  superfluous.  At  a 
later  time  also,  when  Shulamith  was  urging  a  re- 
turn to  her  home  (vii.  12),  she  takes  for  granted 
that  it  would  be  necessary  to  spend  several  nights 
in  villages  upon  the  way. 

Thikd  Stbophe.  Vers.  9,  10  (again  spoken  by 
a  fresh  division  of  the  chorus). 

Ver.  9.  A  litter  has  King  Solomon  made 
for  himself. — jl'"]iJX,  though  diflicult  of  expla- 
nation etymologically,  denotes  according  to  the 
ancient  versions  and  rabbinical  tradition  a  porta- 
ble couch,  a  litter  (according  to  Kimchi,  a  bride's 
litter*  in  particular;  a  similar  view  in  Sot.  IX. 
14).  It  is  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  identical 
with  the  riDO,  ver.  7.  In  opposition  to  Hitzig, 
who  declares  the  two  to  be  distinct,  and  places 
the  kins  in  the  n£33,  and  the  bride,  whom  he 
thinks  to  be  coming  to  meet  him,  in  the  P'"'?*? 
see  particularly  Schlottmann,  p.  229  ff.;  also 
Weissbach,  p.  177,  who  correctly  observes  that 
the  remark  before  us,  as  well  as  that  contained  in 
strophe  2  (vers.  7,  8),  is  related  to  the  question 
in  ver.  6,  and  must  therefore,  like  that  first  an- 
swer, point  to  a  female  person  as  the  occupant 
of  the  Utter  relerred  to.  In  an  etymological  point 
of  view,  HiTZio's  explanation  of  ['""^pX  as  related 

to  the  Sanskrit  j^art/ana,  "saddle,  riding-s.iddle," 
and  consequently  as  not  properly  denoting  a 
couch  for  lying  down,  but  a  portable  chair 
(comp.  the  Str.,  which  takes  the  word  as  a  syno- 
nyme  of  N33),  may  deserve  to  be  preferred  above 
all  others,  especially  if  we  might  also  adduce  with 
it  tbe  Indian  paryang,  "bed,"  compared  by 
BiiTrcHEB  (Sufpl.  Lex.  Aram.,  p.  49).  For  nei- 
ther the  derivation  from  the  Greek  attempted  long 
ago  by  Jerome  (on  Isa.  vii.  14),  as  though  it  were 
identical  with  the  <popciov  of  the  Sept.  (so  among 
the  later  writers,  Magnus  and  Schlottmann), 
nor  the  various  recent  attempts  to  refer  it  to  some 
Semitic  root,  e.  g.,  to  the  Chald.  X^^,  currere 
(hence  properly  equivalent  to  cuttus,  Gesenius) 
[chariot,  E.ng.  Ver.],  or  to  Xt3=1X3,  "  to  be 
liandsomely  adorned,  to  shine  "  (Weissbach),  or 
to  mil,  whether  in  the  sense  of  "spreading  out,' 
or  in  that  of  "cutting  neatly,  executing  elegant 
workmanship"  (Ewald,  Meier,  Delitzsch,  etc., 
all  of  whom  compare  the  Chald.  N-lii),  bed),  or 
finally  to  7113=11:3, /errz  (Wiseman,  Uor.  Sgr., 
and  Uesen.-Bietr.  in  the  llandw'Orterbuch,  com- 
paring the  •'ftrculum"  of  the  Vulg.  and  the  Sgr. 
pliTuio,  "cradle") — none  of  these  attempts  at 
explanation  are  really  satisfactory  in  a  linguistic 
point  of  view.  But  even  if  the  "Appiryou  '  is 
properly  a  portable  seat,  it  may  still  be  identical 
with  the  "Mittah,"  ver.  7;  for  as  a  travelling 
sedan  it  was  doubtless  arranged  both  for  sitting 
and  for  reclining,  and  was  spacious  enough  to  af- 
ford room  for  Solomon  along  with  Shulamith.    It 

*  ["  It  seems  to  signify  the  nuptial  bed,  or  an  open  chariot, 
or  some  such  like  thing,  in  which  the  bride  was  carried  in 
pomp  to  the  bridegroom's  house ;  and  iH  this  sense  is  the  word 
used  iu  the  Mishnah.'" — GiLL.J 


III.  6— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


88 


is  more  natural,  however,  and  likewise  corres- 
ponds better  with  decorum  and  with  the  mar- 
riage customs  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  to  imagine 
the  king  riding  along  side  or  seated  on  a  separate 
litter  of  a  less  showy  sort.  For  the  Hindoo  bridal 
custom,  according  lo  which  both  bride  and  groom 
were  carried  along  logsther  in  one  large  palan- 
quin, can  scarcely  determine  the  usage  under  the 
Old  Testament  (comp.  Schlott.mann,  in  loc). — 
"  Has  made  for  himself"  is,  according  to  2  Sam. 
XV.  1;  1  Kings  i.  5,  equivalent  to  "procured, 
provided  for  himself,"  comparavit  sibi,  not  ex- 
■Aclly ^faciendum  curavil,  "caused  to  be  made" 
(for  which  Esth.  vii.  9  has  been  alleged). — Of 
the  vrood  of  Lebanon — literally:  "tromthe 
woods  of  Lebanon,"  i.  e.,  from  various  costly  spe- 
cies of  wood  found  on  this  mountain,  particularly 
cedars  and  cypresses,  comp.  1  Kings  v.  10  ;  vi. 
15;  vii.  2,  as  well  as  i.  17  above.* — Its  pillars 
he  made  of  silver. — So  that  only  the  frame  of 
the  sedan  was  of  those  valuable  woods,  not  its 
various  decorations,  which  belonged  to  its  inner 
as  well  as  its  outer  fitting  up.  D'"H3^  are  not 
the  feet  of  the  couch,  as  though  the  KTJvai  hpyv- 
pSiTodec  (Xenoph.,  Anah.  IV.,  4,  21  ;  Athen.  II., 
9),  or  the  Roman  tables  with  silver  legs  (Juven. 
II.,  128),  were  to  be  compared,  but  the  small  pil- 
lars designed  mainly  for  ornament,  not  as  sup- 
ports, with  which  the  sedan  was  embellished ; 
comp.  the  auraix  columnse  of  a  royal  sedan  spoken 
of  by  CcRTius,  IX.  8,  26,  as  well  as  the  mention 
of  Indian  palanquins  with  silver  pillars  by  v. 
Orlich,  Indisehe  Beise,  p.  123  — Its  seat  of 
purple. — By  this  are  meant  not  cushions,  but 
costly  coverings,  which  were  spread  over  the 
hard  wooden  base;  comp.  Judg.  v.  10;  .\m.  iii. 
12  ;  Prov.  vii.  16. — Its  interior  Twas  embroi- 
dered from  love  by  the  daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem.— The  suffix  in  Din,  like  that  of  the  three 
preceding  words,  can  only  refer  buck  to  the  prin- 
cipal subject  p'^iJX,  not  to  the  purple  of  the  cov- 
erings (M.\GN.,  HrrztG).  Since  the  hack  and  the 
seat  have  been  mentioned  before,  the  "midst" 
or  "  inside"  of  this  elegant  litter  can  mean  no- 
thing but  the  sides  and  top  of  the  same  vehi- 
cle. The  decoration  of  these  inner  portions  of 
the  sedan  is  characterized  by  the  participle  '^ii'l 
(from  ^IXT  to  arrange  together,  combine,  comp. 
nSXT,  "  tesselated  pavement"),  as  consisting  in 
figures  arranged  together  to  resemble  mosaic, 
which  points  to  fine  embroidery,  for  these  figures 
cannot  be  conceived  to  be  upon  any  thing  but  the 
coverings  which  lined  the  walls. f    Consequently 

•  [Taylor  is  peculiar  in  connecting  the  last  words  of  ver.  9 
with  ver.  10  tlius :  "-\  nuptial  palanquin  hath  king  Solomtju 
made  for  tiimaull".  He  hath  made  of  Lebanon-wooil  its  pillars 
(the  poles  of  the  palanquin,  and  perhaps  the  whole  of  its  wood- 
work); of  silver  (tissue)  its  canopy;  of  gold  (tissue)  its  lower 
carriage  (lit.,  the  ridden  in  part,  which  hangs  by  cords  from 
the  pillars  or  poles);  with  purple  its  middle  part  (floor)  is 
spread,  a  present  from  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  (a  finely 
wrought  carpet,)  or  wrought  with  an  omamentul  pattern  of 
needle-work."J 

t  [P.vTRics  supposes  a  reference  to  the  "  foot-cloth,  which 
lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  chariot,  with  elegant  figures  of  shep- 
herds and  shepherdesses  perhaps  and  aJl  their  innocent  court- 
whips."'  Moody  Stu.^kt  mentions  (without  adopting)  an  opinion 
also  suggested  by  Fry  and  Mrs.  FR.4NCIS  that  "  verses  expres- 
sive of  love  were  wrought  into  the  fabric "'  of  the  inner  lining. 
Sru.lRT  insists  upon  the  strict  meaning  of  a  "  pavement  of 
stone,"  and  applies  the  description  to  the  "ark  of  the  covenant 
with  the  tables  of  the  law  as  the  chariot  of  the  divine  king  of 
Israel."— Tr.J 


nothing  is  more  obvious  than  to  see  in  tb« 
"daugliters  of  Jerusalem"  the  makers  of  this 
embroidery,  and  in  H^l!*?  love,  which  is  added  to 
limit  the  participle  Hli'l  the  mention  of  the  dis- 
position, impelled  by  which  the  daughters  of  Je- 
rusalem performed  this  work.  The  ]D  in  nU30 
is  therefore  equivalent  to  "from,  or  on  the  part 
of,"  and  does  not  introduce  the  ageat  after  a 
passive  verb*  (as  Hitziq  and  other  opponents  of 
this  construction  suppose),  which  would  cer- 
tainly be  contrary  to  usage.  The  Sti;PT.  is  sub- 
stantially correct,  only  HinX  is  taken  as  in  recent 
times,  e.  g.,  by  VAiai.NOER,  in  the  sense  of  a 
"  token  or  gift  of  love  ;"  so  Herder,  Dehtzscu 
and  others.  On  the  conti-ary,  it  is  incorrectly 
rendered  by  Lutheu  (who  partially  follows  the 
VuLG.\TE) :  "  paved  within  in  a  lovely  manner  for 
the  sake  of  the  daughters  at  Jerusalem  ;"  also  by 
Umbreit  :  "  adorned  from  love  to  the  daughters 
of  Jerusalem;"  Hesgstexb.:  'adorned  with  the 
love  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem"  (as  though 
they  were  themselves  seated  inside  of  the  sedan); 
BoTTCHER;  "adorned  with  one,  who  is  beloved 
beyond  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  i.  «.,  far 
more  than  they;  and  finally  Doederl  ,  Ewalu, 
Weissbach,  Renan,  Hitzig,  Schlottmann  ; 
"adorned  with  a  love  from  among  the  daughters 
of  Jerusalem" — as  though  H^riX  here  meant  the 
same  as  amata  (which  is  in  reality  not  the  case 
either  here  or  any  where  else  in  the  Song  of  So- 
lomon ;  see  above  on  ii.  7  and  comp.  on  vii.  7)  or 
as  though  instead  of  this  expression  we  were  re- 
quired in  spite  of  MSS.  and  versions  lo  read 
n^riN  (as  in  Hos.  iii.  1 ;  Deut.  xxi.  lo)  or  n^HN 
(comp.  Hos.  ix.  10),  as  Hixzio  in  fact  proposes. 
The  same  interpreter  infers  from  022""^'  HUBO 
that  the  royal  bride  denoted  by  n3nx  is  not  Shu- 
liimith,  but  a  native  of  Jerusalem,  whilst  the  rest 
of  the  advocates  of  this  last  named  view  take  the 
"daughters  of  Jerusalem"  here  iu  the  wider 
sense  of  "daughters  of  Israel"  (see  particularly 
Schlottmann). 

FoL'RTH  Strophe.  Ver.  11  (spoken  by  the 
whole  body  of  the  chorus). 

Ver.  11.  Come  out,  daughters  of  Zion. — 
This  form  of  address  is  adopted  instead  of  "daugli- 
ters of  Jerusalem,"  which  had  just  been  used  nf 
the  close  of  verse  10,  merely  for  the  sake  of  va- 
rying the  expression,  not  to  distinguish  the 
ordinary  wouicn  of  the  city  from  the  ladies 
of  the  court  (Ewald,  Hitzig,  etc.)  [so  Ginsb,], 
The  coming  out  here  urged  is  not  necessarily  the 
coming  out  of  individuals  from  their  houses;  it 
is  sufficient  to  suppose  the  interior  of  the  city 
contrasted  with  the  open  sp.ace  at  one  of  the 
gates  where  the  action  is  proceeding  (see  above 
No.  1,  p.  72). — And  gaze  at  king  Solomon 
with  the  crown  jwherewith  his  mother 
crooned  him,  etc.  By  this  crown  is  neither 
meant  the  royal  bride  herself,  as  though  she 
were  here  entitled  the  crown  of  her  hushan<l  as 
in  Prov.  xii.  4  (Vaih.,  Hengstenb),  nor  is  the 


*  [So  Percy  :  "  The  middle  thereof  is  wrought  ^n  needle- 
work) by  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  (as  a  testimony  of  thf.'ir| 
love."  AVlLLUMS:  "The  preposition  is  not  most  usually /'y 
but/rom..  In  the  present  instance  it  probably  includes  both-^ 
lined  with  love  hy  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  and  prokiiiiy 
received  as  a  present  from  them."] 


«4 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


HI.  6— V.  1. 


expression  a  general  figurative  designation  of 
Solomon's  sovereignty  or  his  glory  as  a  conquer- 
or (Stauke  and  many  of  the  older  commenta- 
tors; also  Hahs).  We  are  rather  to  look  upon 
it  as  a  proper  festive  crown,  a  wedding  coronet 
.of  gold  and  silver  (scarcely  of  fresh  flowers), 
such  as  probably  not  only  brides  but  bridegrooms 
were  accustomed  to  wear  at  Israelitish  weddings, 
as  was  the  custom  at  least  in  later  times  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  the  Talmud;  *  see  Sel- 
OEN,  Uxor  Ebr.  II.  139  f.;  Hirt,  de  coronis  apud 
Hebrseos  nuptialibus  sponai  sponsmque,  Jen.  1748. — 
That  it  was  no  other  than  Solomon's  mother,| 
who  put  this  crown  upon  his  head,  is  not  to  be 
explained  from  the  fact  that  mothers  generally 
take  a  special  interest  in  such  matters  of  orna- 
ment (Hitzig),  but  from  a  peculiar  marriage 
custom,  according  to  which  the  mother  in  token 
of  her  approval  of  the  marriage  alliance  con- 
tracted by  her  sou,  with  her  own  hand  adorned 
him  with  a  festive  crown.  It  is  still  a  question, 
however,  whether  the  reference  is  to  that  wed- 
ding crown,  which  Solomon  had  previously  worn 
upon  his  marriage  with  the  Egyptian  princess, 
1  Kin.  iii.  1,  and  which  in  order  to  distinguish  the 
present  new  bride  above  others  he  had  now 
brought  out  anew  (Ewald),  or  whether  Jis  "  the 
new  love  deserved  a  new  crown"  (Hitzig),  we 
are  to  assume  that  the  crowning  was  first  per- 
formed by  Balhsheba  in  honor  of  the  present 
nuptial  celebration  (so  the  most).  The  latter  as- 
sumption is  favored  not  only  by  the  tenor  of  the 
words  used  (see  particularly  "and  in  the  day  of 
the  gladness  of  his  heart"  in  d)  but  also  by  the 
circumstance  that  Bathsheba,  Solomon's  mother, 
probably  survived  David,  her  royal  husband,  a 
number  of  years,  and  continued  to  be  a  highly 
respected  and  influential  person  at  the  court  of 
Solomon;  comp.  1  Kin.  i.  11;  ii.  13 If. 

3.  Solomon   to  Shulamith  at  the  wepdino 

KNTEET-MNMENT,   iv.    1-6. 

Ver.  1.  Lo,  thou  art  fair,  my  dear,  etc. — 
The  verbal  correspondence  of  this  praise  of  Solo- 
mon's beauty  with  i.  15  is  <lesigned  as  in  vi.  4 
(and  BO  in  vi.  10;  viii.  5  comp.  with  iii.  G)  to 
direct  attention  to  Solomon  as  again  the  speaker 
of  these  words.  And  it  follows  with  great  prob- 
ability that  the  person  addressed  is  likewise  the 
same  as  before,  not  some  new  object  of  the  king's 
love  different  from  Shulamith,  as  Hitzig  as-^^erts. 
— Behind  thy  veil. — So  correctly  Hitzig, 
Vaih.,  Heiligst.,  etc.,  with  whom  Bottch.  and 
Gksen.-Dietb.    ("through   thy    veil,"    i.e.,    ap- 

•  ["  It  waa  usual  with  many  nations  to  put  crowns  or  gar- 
lands on  the  heads  ot  new  married  persons.  Tlie  iVIishnah  in- 
forms us  that  this  custom  prevailed  among  the  Jews ;  and  it 
should  seem  from  the  passage  hefore  us  that  the  ceremony  of 
putting  it  on  waa  performed  by  one  of  the  parents. 
Among  the  Greeks  the  bride  was  crowned  by  her  motlier. 
aa  appears  from  tiie  instance  of  Iphigenia  iu  Euripides,  ver. 
iHK't.  Bocn.\RT  supposes  the  nuptial  crown  and  other  orna- 
ments of  a  bride  alluded  to  in  Kzi-k.  xvi.  t<-l'.i;  Utnijr.  Sui:r 
p.  2,  1. 1. — The  nuptial  crowns  used  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  were  only  chaplets  of  leaves  or  flowers.  Among  the 
Hebrews  they  were  not  only  of  these,  but  occasionally  of 
richer  materials,  as  gold  or  silver,  according  to  the  rank  or 
wealth  of  the  parties."  Percy.  To  this  GooDad<is:  "It  was 
customary  equally  among  the  Greeks  and  Orientals  to  wear 
crowns  or  garlands  of  dilTerent  degrees  of  value,  in  proportion 
to  the  rank  of  the  person  presenting  them,  on  festivals  of 
•very  description  ;  but  those  prepared  for  the  celebration  of 
a  ouptial  Imnquet  tm  being  a  festivity  of  the  first  conseiiuence, 
were  of  peculiar  8i)lendor  and  magnificence."] 

t  fWlTHlNOTON  is  alone  in  finding  not  Solomon's  mother,  but 
his  mother-iu-hiw,  iu  this  passage;  he  renders  thus;  "  woar- 


pearing  through)  substantially  agree.* — Thy 
hair  like  a  flock  of  goats  -which  repose  oa 
Mount  Qilead. — As  Gilead  is  visible  from  the 
Mount  of  Olives  in  the  far  distance,  but  not  from 
Jerusalem,  its  mention,  like  that  of  Lebanon  and 
Hermon  in  ver.  8,  and  like  so  many  other  allusions 
in  the  poem  to  localities  in  the  north  of  Palestine, 
is  to  be  explained  from  the  circumstance  that 
when  Solomon  was  speaking  to  his  beloved,  ho 
liked  to  transport  himself  to  the  region  of  her 
home  with  its  peculiar  circle  of  impressions  and 
ideas.  Gilead  is,  besides,  a  mountain  land  specially 
rich  in  cattle  (comp.  Num.  xxxii.  1 ;  Mic.  vii.  1 1 ; 
Jer.  1.  19),  and  modern  travellers  have  found  it 
still  strewn,  as  ii  were,  with  flocks  and  herds 
Comp.  Akvieux,  II.,  688;  Paulus,  Reisen,  7,  108; 
RosENM  ,  MoTgenl.,  I.,  85,  etc. — The  point  of  com- 
parison in  the  figure  is  lo  be  found  mainly  in  the 
glossy  blackness  and  luxuriant  abundance  of 
Shulamith's  hair,  perhaps  also  in  its  silky  soft- 
ness and  delicacy,  less  likely  in  her  elegant  and 
elaborately  braided  tresses,  to  which  Maonds 
thinks  there  was  subordinate  reference.  Old 
Luis  de  Leon  correctly  (in  Wilkens,  p.  219) : 
"  He  indicated  thus  the  abundance  and  the  color 
of  her  hair;  for  the  goats,  which  pastured  there, 
were  dark  and  glossy.  He  says  therefore :  as 
the  goats  scattered  on  the  summit  of  Gilead  give 
it  a  tine  and  pretty  appearance,  whilst  before  it 
looked  like  a  b.ald  and  arid  rock,  so  does  thy  hair 
adorn  and  ornament  thy  head  by  its  rich  color 
and  abundance." 

Ver.  '1.  Thy  teeth  like  a  flock  of  shorn 
sheep. — Sheep  recently  shorn,  consequently 
!^u]ooih,  and  besides  just  washed  in  the  pool,  and 
hence  snow-white,  evidently  are  a  peculiarly  ap- 
propriate figure  for  dazzling  white  teeth,  pro- 
vided pastoral  figures  or  those  taken  from  the 
realm  of  country  life  were  to  be  used  at  all.  And 
this  was  to  a  certain  extent  necessary  here;  at 
least  it  was  extremely  natural  to  illustrate  the 
contrast  between  the  blackness  of  her  hair  and 
the  whiteness  of  her  teeth  by  adding  a  flock  of 
white  lambs  to  the  flock  of  black  goals  spoken  of 
in  ver.  1.  The  idea  of  the  pool  for  the  sheep 
spontaneously  ofi'ered  itself,  since  washing  newly 
shorn  sheep  was  a  universal  custom  in  antiquity; 
comp.  CoLDMELLAS  advice  (Vll.  4)  to  wash 
sheep  four  days  after  the  shearing. — All  of 
virhich  bear  tvtrins,  and  one  bereaved  is 
not  among  them. — An  allusion  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  her  teeth,  the  two  rows  of  which, 
upper  and  lower,  not  only  have  no  breaks,  but  in 
every  instance  exhibit  a  pair  of  teeth  exactly  an- 
swering to  one  another,  twin  teeth,  as  it  were, 
throughout  f     That   sheep  in  the   East  are  still 

ing  the  wreath  which  his  (new  rural)  mother  wove  for  hun  id 
the  day  of  his  espousals  (to  her  daughter)." 

*  [P'krcy  gives  the  prepositiou  a  jirivativi-  sense,  and  trans- 
lates "  now  thy  veil  is  removed."  lie  supposes  that  the  royal 
pair  having  alighted  from  their  cai-riage,  the  cen-mony  of  un- 
veiling the  bride  here  follows,  which  gives  occiwion  to  tbd 
bridegroom's  encomium  on  those  features  which  the  veil  in 
great  measure  concealed.  But  Willi  MS  obser^'es  that  th» 
"  Eastern  poets  celebrate  the  charms  of  the  fair  through  their 
veils,  and  improve  this  circumstance  into  an  elegant  compli- 
ment." AiNswoRTH  and  others  remark  upon  the  circnmstance 
that  seven  parliculais  are  here  mentioned  in  the  description 
of  the  bride,  viz.;  her  "eyes,  hair,  teeth,  lips,  temples,  neck 
and  Ifreaats,"  uniting,  as  MooDT  Sti'AET  expresses  it,  "  perfec- 
tion of  number  with  perfection  of  Iwau^y." — Tr.] 

t  [Ginsdurq  adopts  the  translation  of  LowTFt,  Percy  and 
Pry  with  advantage  to  the  figure:  "AH  of  which  are  paired. 
That  is,  each  upper  tooth  has  its  corresponding  lower  on*. ' 


III.  6— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


8i 


mostly  thdv/iordKoi,  i.  e.,  have  two  lambs  at  a  time, 
is  testified  by  recent  travellers,  e.  g.,  the  anony- 
mous autiior  of  tlie  publication,  ^^JEijypten  wie  es 
jetzt  ist"  p.  42  (comp.  Magn.  in  loc).  L.  de 
Lkon  (in  the  same  place  as  before)  has  again  finely 
shown  the  sensible  and  strikinj;  character  of  the 
oomparisoQ  here  selected  :  *■  The  figure  aliuost, 
paints  the  whole  thing  before  our  eyes.  The 
flock  of  sheep,  wliicli  always  go  crowded  together 
like  the  scales  of  fir  cones,  represent  the  compact- 
ness and  smallness  of  her  teeih:  their  whiteness 
is  expressed  by  their  coming  up  from  the  wash- 
ing; their  uniformity  by  none  being  sick  or  bar- 
ren." 

Ver.  3  Like  a  crimson  thread  thy  lips, 
and  thy  mouth  is  lovely. — The  lips  immedi- 
ately follow  the  teeth,  not  simply  because  they 
cover  them  (Hitzig),  but  slso  because  the  bright 
red  of  the  one  forms  an  elegant  contr,ast  with  the 
dazzling  whiteness  of  the  other;  comp.  the  com- 
bination of  the  two  colors  in  v.  10.  Then  the 
mouth,  comprehending  both  teeth  and  lips,  stands 
here  in  its  quality  of  an  organ  of  speech,  whence 
also  it  is  called  "137?  from  137'  " '"  speak,"  and 
is  supplied  with  a  predicate  (HIXJ,  lovely ;  comp. 
ii.  14;  i.  ].5),  which  serves  to  cliaracterize  not  so 
much  its  pretty  shape  or  color  as  the  agreeable 
and  beneficent  effects  proceeding  from  it.  The 
Sept.,  Vhlq.,  Syr.,  Hengstenb.,  etc.,  lake  l^ip 
as  equivalent  to  speech;  A.  Schultens  and 
DoPKE,  to  tongue;  Hitzio,  to  pilate.  But  like 
all  that  is  described  before  and  after,  this  expres- 
sion must  denote  some  part  of  the  body,  and  one 
too  that  is  esternally  visible,  and  which  forms  a 
substantial  feature  of  Shulamith's  beauty. — 
Iiike  a  piece  of  pomegranate  thy  cheek. — 
npT  litiTally  •' the  temple  "  (Judg.  iv.  21  ;  v.  26), 
here  manifestly  the  upper  part  of  the  cheek, 
whose  soft  red  borders  upon  tiie  white  of  the 
temple.  For  this  figure  of  the  half  of  a  pomegra- 
nate (]1^")'^  ^Ip)  refers  to  the  pleasing  combi- 
nation of  white  and  red;  on  one  side  of  the  exte- 
rior of  this  fruit  '*a  bright  red  is  mingled  with 
yellow  and  white,"  whilst  the  other  side  looks 
brown  (Di)PK.E).    It  is  only  to  a  half,  a  segment* 

(nSa  from  nSa,  "to  cut  fruit,"  2  Kings  iv.  39)  of 
the  pomegranate  that  the  cheek  is  compared  be- 
cause its  soft  curve  only  corresponds  in  fact  to 
the  segment  of  a  sphere.  Not,  therefore,  "like 
s  slice  of  a  pomegranate"  (Lcth.)  [so  Dcrell, 
HoDO.,  Thropp],  as  though  the  flat  inner  surface 
of  a  sliced  pomegranate  were  intended  (Heng- 
stenb., Hahn.,  etc.).  For  the  appearance  of  the 
reddish  seeds  of  this  fruit,  lying  in  a  yellowish 
pulp,  would  not  form  a  suitable  comparison, 
whether  for  a  cheek  or  a  temple. 

Ver.  4.     Like   the   tower  of  David   thy 


thus  they,  a-s  it  were,  appear  in  pairs,  like  tliia  tlock  of  white 
Blieep,  eacli  of  which  keeps  to  its  mate,  aa  they  come  up  from 
the  washing  pool.  Andno  tine  oftlicm  is  deprived  of  its  leltow, 
i.  €.,  no  tootti  is  deprived  of  its  corresponding  one,  just  as  none 
of  the  sheep  is  hereaved  of  its  companion.  The  teeth  surely, 
which  are  here  compared  to  the  flock,  cannot  be  said  to  bear 
twins  like  the  sheep."] 

*  [Castf.llus,  followed  hy  Patrick.  Good  and  others;  the 
opening  flower  or  blossom  of  the  pomegranate.  Williams: 
"  If  tile  bridal  veil  of  the  Hebrew  ladies  was  like  that  of  the 
Persians,  made  of  red  silk  or  muslin,  it  would  throw  a  glow 
over  the  whole  countenance  that  will  account  more  fully  for 
this  comparison."] 


neck,  bnilt  for  an  armoury.     His  aim  was  not 

to  describe  the  slender  grace  and  erectness  of 
Shulamith's  neck  in  and  of  itself,  but  likewis« 
with  reference  to  its  ornaments  consisting  of 
brilliant  jewelry  and  ornamental  chains  (comp. 
i.  9-11)  and  consequently  in  respect  to  its  superb 
and  stately  appearance  (comp.  vii.  5  [4]  ).  A 
pecularly  suitalile  comparison  was  accordingly 
offered  to  the  king  in  the  tower,  hung  around 
with  burnished  pieces  of  armor,  and  probably 
built  of  white  free-stone,  which  David  may  have 
erected  somewhere  in  the  vicinity,  perhaps  at 
one  corner  of  his  palace  on  Zion  as  a  bulwark 
or  a  watch  tower.*  The  identity  of  this  tower 
with  the  "  tower  of  Lebanon  which  looks  toward 
Damascus "  mentioned  in  vii.  5  (4j  is  contra- 
dicted by  the  fact  that  the  latter  is  a  figure  for 
an  entirely  different  thing  from  that  now  before 
us  (versus  Ewald,  Hitzig,  etc.).  Still  less  can 
the  ivory  tower  spoken  of  in  the  very  same  pas- 
sage be  identical  with  this.  This  manifestly  ap- 
pears from  the  further  defining  clauses  "built 
for  an  armory,"  etc.,  to  have  been  a  fortification, 
a  stronghold  for  arms,  a  tower  for  warlike  pur- 
poses, and  hence,  perhaps,  is  not  distinct  from 
the  "  house  of  the  mighty  "  (D'^IBjn  Pi'2)  spoken 
of  in  Neh.  iii.  16,  which  is  assigned  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  district  of  Beth-zur  and  the  sep- 
ulchres of  David,  i.  e.,  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Zion,  on  the  very  spot  where  David's  old  palace 
must  have  stood  (comp.  Weissbach  in  loc.) — 
The  diflicult  expression  nViJ/ri,  which  the  LXX 
render  as  a  proper  name  (9aA(j«jd),  the  Vui.g. 
by  pTopafjnacula,  Aq  ,  and  the  Versio  Veneta  by 
cKd^^cic,  is  most  correctly  taken  with  Kimchi  for 

a  compound  of  7pi  collis  (const.  /P)  and  nra 
enses,  edges,  sword-blades  (Prov.  v.  4  ;  Judg.  iii. 
16;   comp.  Ps.  cxlix.  6),  or  which  amounts  to  the 

same  thing,  referred  to  Vhi\  "to  hang"  and 
nva  in  the  same  sense  as  before  (Hengstenb., 
Del.,  Weissb.,  etc.).  In  both  cases  it  must  des- 
ignate a  lofty  object  of  the  nature  of  a  fortifica- 
tion, hung  around  with  swords  or  bristling  with 
swords,  consequently,  as  mention  is  also  made 
of  shields  in  what  follows,  an  armory  which,  as 
it  served  for  the  preservation  ofnumerous  mar- 
tial weapons  of  offence  and  defence,  was  like- 
wise hung  around  with  them  on  the  outside,  and 
thus  embellished.     For  the  shields  hung   on   it 

(VlI?)  according  to  the  next  clause  of  the  verse, 

TT  ^ 

and  not  barely  in  it  (as  Hitzig  supposes,  who 
fancies  a  "mound  of  earth,"  which  "hides  in  its 
bosom  such  murderous  weapons "  as  swords, 
shields,  etc.  This  explanation  is  at  any  rate 
better  suited  to  the  connection  and  yields  a  more 
appropriate  figure  for  Sliulamith's  neck  decorated 
with  brilliant  ornaments  than  the  derivation  of 

nraSn  from  a  substantive  'SYA  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Arab.,  would  menu  "host,  army" 
(F.wald:  "built  for  troops;"  BiJTTCii.,  Riiuic., 
compare  Heiligst.),  or  from  an  alleged  adjective 


*[f5oOD;  "Thegnweful  neck  of  the  fair  brido  is  compared  to 
this  consummate  stnicturc ;  and  the  radiance  of  the  jewels  that 
surrounded  it  to  the  splendor  of  the  arms  and  shields  Willi 
which  the  tower  of  David  was  adorned.  The  simile  is  ti- 
qnisite."] 


m 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


III.  6— T.  I. 


'aSp  exitialis,  degtructive,  hence  ril'sSn  exitialia, 
viz.  arma,  murderous  weapons,  or  from  HS?^  [D  ' 
to  be  white,  hence  "  pieces  of  alabaster  "  (Hahn), 
and   the  like.* — All   the  shields  of  heroes 

□'aStS  has  a  wider  meaning  than  [JD,  which 
specially  denotes  the  "shield  of  a  light  armed 
soldier,"  the  -'target;"  see  Gesen.  Thes.,  p. 
1418.  We  are  scarcely  to  think  of  the  shields 
of  conquered  heroes,  of  those  for  instance  which 
David  (2  Sam.  viii.  7)  had  taken  from  the  Syrians 
(versus  Weissb.),  because  the  mighty  men  here 
mentioned  are  simply  referred  to  as  the  garrison 
of  the  armory  here  described.  Comp.,  moreover, 
F.zek.  xxvii.  11,  a  passage  which  is  probably 
based  on  that  before  us. 

Ver.  5.  Thy  two  breasts  like  t^70  fa-wns, 
tvirins  of  a  gazelle,  that  are  feeding  among 
lilies.  On  c  comp.  ii.  IC.  The  comparison  is 
plainly  intended  to  express  "delicate  and  ex- 
quisite beauty"  (HiTZ.);  for  since  the  gazelle 
itself,  wlieu  full  grown,  is  an  admirable,  attrac- 
tive and  favorite  emblem  of  womanly  grace  and 
loveliness  (Prov.  v.  19  ;  comp.  above  on  ii.  7,  9), 
a  twin  pair  of  its  young  lying  on  a  bed  covered 
with  lilies  appears  lo  be  still  better  fitted  to  illus- 
trate the  fragrant  delicacy  and  elegance  of  a 
chaste  virgin  bosom  veiled  by  the  folds  of  a  dress 
redolent  of  sweet  odors  (comp.  i.  1.3).  \  more 
detailed  parcelling  out  of  the  comparison  (as  for 
instance  by  Hitzig,  who  thinks  that  the  dress 
was  red,  or  by  Weissb.,  who  supposes  a  particu- 
lar reference  in  the  young  gazelles  to  the  dark- 
colored  nipples  of  her  breasts  as  their  especial 

*  ["  Our  tirat  business  is  tiere  with  the  controverted  word 

nVi)7n7,  our  translation  of  which  "with  projecting  para- 
pets," is  in  partial  accordancf  witii,  and  d'-rives  .sunpurt  tr.ini 
rhat  of  Symmachi;.?,  et?  eiraA^ets  {at.  e-Qfw  eTraA^ewi-).     The 

word  nV3  7n.  or  rather  its  singular  n'37n  [better  n"£)7nj 

is  regTilarly  derived  from  the  root  n£)  7-  That  root  is,  according 
to  BuxTORP,  actually  found  in  the  Chaldee  in  the  Targnm 
of  Jonathan  on  Lev.  vi.  5 ;  althou-h  in  the  Targum,  as  printed 

by  Walton,  we  read  not  '37^  but  ^Qr.    However,  whether 

the  root  be  used  or  no,  its  meaning  may  be  assumed  to  be 

identical  with  tliat  of  C137,  which  is  found  in  ot!ier  places  in 

the  Targum  of  Onkclos,  The  meaning  is  "  to  add  on,"  "  to 
join  on."  The  substantive  derived  from  it,  when  applied  to  a 
building,  would  thus  naturally  denote  the  projecting  i)arts  of 
the  building,  which  seem  as  it  were  to  be  added  on  to  the  rest. 

We  have  an  analogous  term  in  the   Chaldee    p£Jl7,  derived 

from  the  same  root  as  nVS/P,  and  used  in  the  Talmud  of 
(itrongly  marked  eyeltrows.  The  projecting  parapets  of  a 
tower  are  in  fact  its  eyebrows.  And  that  ancient  towers  were 
liuilt  with  such  projecting  parapets,  and  moreover  that 
hhields  were  bung  by  way  of  disphty  on  the  exterior  of  the 
parapets,  is  cstablistied  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner  by  a 
representation  on  a  bas-relief  .at  Kouyounjik,  given  l>y  LATAkn, 
and  also  in  Smith's  I>ict.  of  the  biblc^  s.  v.  Gammadims.     Of 

the  current  explanations  of  i"ir37rt,  the  only  one  which 

seems  to  call  for  notice,  is  that  wliirli  derives  it  from  H /H  "  to 
hang,"  jir3  "edges,"  and  makes  it  mean  "an  armory." 
Against  tliis  lie  the  objections,  Ist  that  it  unnecess.arily  treats 

nV37n  as  a  composite  word  ;  2d,  that  an  armory  would  l>e 
more  naturally  de-scrilK-d  as  a  "  hang-weapons "  than  a 
"hang-edges;"  3d,  that  the  figure  before  us  is  not  that  of  an 
armory,  but  of  a  bnilding  with  shields  hung  on  its  exterior; 
4tli.   that  any  etyuiological   connection  between    the   words 

nr^'T^alid  'I'^iT  in  the  two  adjoining  elans-s  is  improba- 
ble, a*l  it  would  d'yitroy  the  charm  of  ttle  studied  iloniceopbony. 
"'her»!  ir'^  two  oth<:l  passages  of  Scripture  in  whicli  w  may  tnice 
H  ini  •  allusion  to  ttiis  tower,  Mir,  iv.  8  ;  Isa.  v.  -J."  TnRUPl'.] 


charm,  and  in  the  lilies  to  the  snowy  whitenesa 
of  her  bosom)  is  inadmissible,  and  leads  to  what 
is  in  violation  of  good  taste  or  to  what  is  obscene, 
from  both  which  the  poet  has  kept  free  here  as 
every  where  else.  Admirably  here  again  Luis 
DE  Leon  (p.  221,  f.) :  •■  In  addition  to  the  deli- 
cacy of  the  young  kids,  in  addition  to  their  simi- 
larity as  twins,  in  addition  to  their  loveliness  and 
gentleness  they  have  in  their  merry  gambols  a 
frolicksomeness  and  gayety,  which  irresistibly 
enchains  the  eyes  of  beholders,  and  attracts 
them  to  come  near  and  touch  them,"  etc. 

Ver.  (i.  Until  the  day  cools  and  the  sha- 
do^7s  flee  I  ■will  get  me  to  the  mountain 
of  myrrh  and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense. 
If  Solomon  were  still  the  sp -.-iker  in  these  words, 
nothing  else  could  possibly  be  meant  by  the  moun- 
tain of  myrrh  and  the  hill  of  frankincense,  but 
the  breasts  of  the  bride  wiiich  would  be  so  desig- 
nated here  in  facetious  and  flowery  style  (Ewald, 
Heiliost.,  Weissb.,  Ren.,  clc.,)  with  allusion  to 
the  fragrant  substnnces,  which  were  between 
them  or  upon  them*  (comp.  i.  IS).  But  the 
very  circumstance,  that  then  the  foregoing  figure 
fcr  the  bosom  would  here  be  followed  by  one  en- 
tirely new  and  of  a  different  description,  whilst 
every  other  part  of  the  body  spoken  of  in  this 
section  is  represented  by  but  a  single  figure  (see 
vers.  1-4)  makes  it  improb.able  that  the  words 
before  us  belong  to  Solomon.  To  which  may  be 
added  that  DVn  ni3't!(  1^,  etc.,  must  belong  to 
Sliulamilh  here  as  well  as  in  ii.  17;  and  that 
BoTTfiiEu's  attempt  to  assign  only  these  intro- 
ductory words  to  the  "vinedresser"  as  he  calls 

her,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  from  '7  ':|7X 
onward  to  the  king  who  interrupts  her,  seems 
scarcely  less  arbitrary  than  Hitzig's  view  that 
the  whole  verse  is  spoken  by  the  shepherd,  who 
suddenlj'  enters  and  declares  his  purpose  to  effect 
the  speedy  rescue  of  Shulamith!  Umbk  ,  Dopke, 
V.Aiii.,  D;;i.iTzstn,  «f<?.,  properly  assign  the  words 
to  Shulamith.  who  seeks  thus  to  parry  the  ardent 
encomiums  of  Solomon,  and  hence  expresses  the 
wish  to  leave  the  wedding  hall  resounding  with 
the  boisterous  festivities  of  the  guests  until  the 
approach  of  evening.  The  "mountain  of  myrrh" 
and  the  "  hill  of  frankincense,"  which  she  wishes 
to  visit  for  this  end,  were  probably  certain  lo- 
calities about  the  royal  palace,  near  the  hall  and 
visible  from  it,  which  either  always  bore  those 
nnmes  or  only  on  the  occasion  of  the  present 
m.arriage,  to  which  fumigations  with  various 
spices  belonged  as  ;.u  absolutely  indispensable 
ingredient,  comp.  iii.  6.  As  presumably  solitary, 
shady  spots,  belonging,  it  may  be,  lo  grounds 
laid  out  as  gardens  (perhaps  "beds  of  balsam" 
of  the  sort  mentioned  in  v.  13,  riiibed  in  the  shape 
of  pyramids  or  towers),  these  must  have  been  to 
the  simple-minded,  guileless  child  of  nature  more 
desirable  places  to  stay  in  than  the  noisy  festive 
hall.  Comp.  her  similar  expressions  of  a  strong 
desire  for  the  fresh  solitude  of  nature  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  luxurious  life  of  the  court ;  i.  7,  16, 
and  especi.ally  vii.  12  (11)  ff  This  understand- 
ing of  the  "  mountain  of  myrrh,"  etc.,  is  evidently 

*[N'0YE.s  thinks  that  the  Itride  herself,  in  respect  to  h**r 
general  charms,  is  hero  compared  to  a  mount»n  of  myrrh, 
ftc.  to  whom  the  lover  says  he  will  return  as  the  antelope 
flies  to  the  mountain.J 


III.  6— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


81 


far  less  forced  than  explaining  it  of  Lebanon,  or 
generally  of  the  region  of  Shulamith's  home,  for 
which  slie  here  expresses  her  desire  (Umbbeit, 
Vaih.),  or  of  "  Sion  as  the  seat  of  the  court" 
(Hitzig),  or  of  Zion  as  a  figure  of  tlie  church 
(Hengstenb,  ),  or  of  Moriah  as  the  Teuiplo-inoun- 
tain  which  is  tiere  designated  113n  in  (Ibn 
Ezra,  Jarchi).  Comp.  on  v.  13  and  vi.  2. 
4.  Continuation:  vers.  7-11. 
Ver.  7.  Ttiou  art  all  fair,  my  dear,  and 
there  is  not  a  blemish  in  thee.  Correctly 
DriLiTZSCH  :  "  Tbis  childlike  disposition  expressed 
ver.  6,  makes  her  but  the  more  lovely  in  the 
eyes  of  the  king  ;  he  breaks  out  in  the  words, 
'thou  art  all  fair,  my  dear,'  etc.,  undoubtedly 
meaning  that  the  beauty  of  her  soul  corresponds 
with  her  outward  beauty — not  with  reference, 
tlierefore,  to  the  oliarms  of  her  bodily  figure 
from  her  brea.st  downward,  which  are  more  fully 
described  subsequently  vii.  2  IF."  (VVeissb.) — On 
the  form  of  expression,  particularly  in  b,  conip. 
2  Sam.  xiv.  i;.') ;   Eph.  v.  27. 

Ver.  8.  'With  me  from  Lebanon,  my 
bride,  with  me  from  Ijebanou  thou  shait 
come.  Several  of  the  advocates  of  the  shep- 
herii-hypothesis  assuraa  at  these  words  a  cijange 
of  person  and  with  it  likewise  a  change  of  scene, 
either  making  the  shepherd  himself  enter  and 
speak  all  that  follows  to  ver.  Iti  (so  Bottcher, 
Ken.),  or  at  least  to  ver.  8  (so  Hitzig),  or  re- 
garding all  from  this  verse  to  v.  8  as  a  mono- 
logue of  Sbulamith,  who  herein  relates  the  wordi 
previously  spoken  to  her  by  her  country  lover 
(so  Ew.vLD,  who  accordingly  iniigiues  that  the 
words;  '*  Lo,  here  comes  my  lover,  and  says  to 
me,"  or  the  like,  have  been  dropped  out  before 
this  verse).  But  an  unprejudiced  interpretation 
renders  such  artifices  needless.  Led  by  the  wish 
of  his  beloved,  expressed  in  ver.  6,  to  exchange 
her  place  amongst  the  jubilant  guests  for  the 
quiet  solitude  of  nature,  Solomon  recalls  her 
descent  from  a  simple  shepherd's  family  in  tlie 
mountain  region  of  Northern  Palestine,  and  hence 
he  exullingly  and  in  exaggerated  expressions 
announces  to  her  how  instead  of  living  in  sterile 
mountain  districts,  and  on  barren  rocky  heights 
rendered  insecure  by  wild  beasts,  slie  should 
hencefoitli  make  her  home  with  hitn  in  the  royal 
palace,  and  in  the  midst  of  its  rich  joys  and 
blissful  beauties,  herself  its  loveliest  flower,  the 
most  charming  and  spicy  of  its  gardens  (see 
especially  vers.  12-15).  the  enthusiastic  lover 
does  not  consider  that  in  this  he  says  nothing 
that  is  really  agreeable  to  her,  but  actually  con- 
travenes her  longing  to  escape  into  the  open 
country  from  the  close  and  sultry  atmosphere  of 
court  life,  any  more  than  he  concerns  himself 
about  the  exaggerated  character  of  his  compari- 
sons, e.  g.  oi  the  mountains  aroumi  Shunem  with 
Lebanon,  or  of  the  "little  foxes"  in  Shulamith's 
vineyards  (ii.  1-5)  with  lions  and  panthers.  Po- 
etical exaggerations  of  this  sort  are  besides  quite 
accordant  with  his  taste  (comp.  ver.  4  and  espe- 
cially vii.  5),  and  appear  much  less  strange  in 
him  than  the  bold  comparison  of  Zion  or  of 
Solomon's  palace  with  the  heights  of  Lebanon 
and  Hermon  (according  to  Hitzig,  Bottch., 
Kenan,  etc.,]  would  sound  in  the  mouth  of  a 
(imple   shepherd. — Besides  ''XUn    "thou    shalt 


come"  shows  that  the  speaker  had  a  definite 
term  in  mind,  to  which  Shulamith  was  to  come 
from  "  Lebanon "  as  her  previous  residenCB 
(comp.  HiTZio  in  loc),  and  that  consequently  the 
idea  of  going  up  and  down  from  one  peak  of 
Lebanon  to  another  (Delitzscu)  is  not  found  in 
the  passage.* — Shalt  journey  from  the  top  of 
Amana.  The  "summit"  or  the  "top"  of 
Amana  is  without  doubt  the  mountain  by  the 
river  Amana  mentioned  2  Kin.  v.  12  K'ri,  that  is 
to  say  that  peak  of  the  Lebanon  or  more  accu- 
rately the  Antilibanus-range,  in  which  this  river 
Amana,  the  Chrysorrhoas  of  the  Greeks  or  the 
Barada  of  the  Arabs  takes  its  rise.  This  peak, 
like  the  following  Shenir  and  Hermon,  stands  of 
course  by  poetic  license  for  the  entire  range 
For  the  poet  cannot  have  intended  a  contrast 
between  the  Lebanon  in  a  and  these  names  of 
mountains  that  follow,  but  "  he  only  varies  the 
names  because  one  meant  the  same  to  him  as 
another"  (so  Correctly  Hitzig.  versus  Delitzsch, 
Hengstenb.,  e^c). — Prom  the  top  of  Shenii 
and  Hermon.  According  to  Deut.  iii.  it  Shenir 
was  the  Amorilish  name  for  Hermon  itself,  which 
thereby  appears  to  be  designated  as  the  "snow 
mountain"  (according  to  .Jarchi  on  that  pas- 
sage and  the  Targum  on  this).  Still  it  is  shown 
as  well  by  the  passage  before  us  as  by  Ezek. 
xxvii.  5,  1  Chron.  v.  28,  that  a  distinction  was 
commonly  made  between  Shenir  which  lay 
further  to  the  north  and  Hermon  (now  Jebel 
csh-Sheikh)  the  more  southern  of  the  principal 
peaks  in  the  entire  Hermon  or  Antilibanus  rang* 
(comp.  Robinson,  Palest.  II.  p.  440  (edit.  18.38), 
13ertu.  on  1  Chron.  v.  23).  As  now  Amana, 
where  the  Chrysorrhoas  has  its  source,  must  be 
the  peak  lying  farthest  to  the  east  or  north-east, 
the  enumeration  of  the  three  peaks  or  ridges  be- 
longing to  Antilibanus  evidently  proceeds  from 
the  north-east  to  the  south-west,  or  from  the 
region  of  Baalbec  to  that  of  Hasbeya  and  Paneas 
(comp.  Hitzig  m  loc). — From  dens  of  lions, 
from  mountains  of  panthers.  These  ex- 
pressions as  belonging  to  the  description  and 
only  .alluding  in  a  general  way  to  the  wild  and 
inhospitable  character  of  the  region  about 
Shulamith's  home,  are  not  to  be  pressed  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  any  more  special  sense,  par- 
ticularly not  so  as  with  Koster,  Bottcheb. 
Hitzig,  etc.  to  explain  the  linns  of  "the  king 
of  Israel  and  his  magnates  who  have  dragged 
the  gr.aceful  roe  Shulamith  into  his  den  !"  Lions 
moreover  must  have  had  their  haunts  in  the  for- 


*  [This  interpretation  certainly  assumes  such  extraordinary 
exagger.itions  as  to  cast  suspicion  upon  its  correctness. 
Noyts  says  ;  "  Verses  8  and  9  seem  to  be  introduced  very  ab- 
ruptly, and  their  import  in  this  connection  is  not  very  obvi- 
ous. DoDERLEiN  and  others  suppose  them  to  be  an  invitation 
to  the  bride  to  take  an  excursion  with  him,  in  order  that 
they  might  admire  together  all  that  was  grand  and  beautiful 
in  scenery.  Others  suppose  them  to  be  an  invitation  to  the 
maiden  to  come  from  a  place  of  danger  to  a  place  of  complete 
security  in  the  arms  of  her  lover."  Good  :  "  By  this  forcible 
appeal  the  royal  speaker  invites  his  beloved  to  his  arms  as  to 
a  pliice  of  safety ;  and  encourages  her  to  look  towards  him 
for  security  amidst  any  dangers,  either  actual  or  imaginary, 
of  which  she  might  be  apprehensive."  Bcrrowes  ;  "  These 
mountains  thus  beautiful  but  dangerous  are  put  in  contrast 
with  the  mountain  of  myrrh  and  the  hill  of  frankincense. 
The  beloved  would  h.ave  his  spouse  leave  the  former  and 
seek  his  society  in  the  retreats  of  the  latter."  The  m.ajurity 
of  English  commentat(»rs  adopt  a  similar  view,  though  witii 
some  variety  in  the  figurative  or  symbolic  sense  which  they 
put  upon  the  mountains  in  question. — Tr.J 


A8 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


m.  6— V.  1. 


esta  of  Lebanon,  as  well  as  in  the  reeds  on  the 
banks  of  the  JorJiin  (Zech.  xi.  3 ;  Jer.  xii.  5)  and 
on  Bashan  (Deut.  ssxiii.  22).  And  panthers 
(this  is  the  meaning  of  D'^DJ,  not  leopards, 
ivhich  as  is  known,  are  only  found  in  Africa)  are 
still  found  in  the  region  of  Lebanon  according  to 
modern  travellers.  (Bubckhardt,  ReiseninSy- 
"ien,  pp.  99,  66). 

Ver.  9.  Thou  hast  ravished  my  heart,  my 
sister,  my  bride.  This  double  designation  of 
Lis  beloved  as  sister  and  as  bride  is  neither 
meant  to  indicate  a  peculiarly  intimate  nor  pre- 
eminently chaste  and  pure  relation  of  love.  The 
thing  here  intended  by  it  is  the  designation  of  a 
certain  relationship.  As  Solomon's  lawful  wife 
Shulamith  now,  after  the  marriage  has  taken 
place,  stands  next  to  him  as  a  sister  to  her 
brother.*  She  is  not  barely  one  of  a  number  of 
wives  (vi.  8)  but  a  sisterly  sharer  of  his  royal 
r,-ink  and  name.  She  is  queen,  as  he  is  king, 
yes,  a  "pi-ince's  daughter,"  vii.  2,  as  he  is  a 
prince's   son  (correctly  Hitzio   and  Weissb.). — 

"3ri337  not  "thou  robbest  me  of  courage" 
(Umbr.,  M.^on.),  nor  "thou  hast  given  me 
courage  "  (Stmm.,  Syr.,  Ewalu,  Dopke,  Bott- 
CHER,  Meier,  Weissb.,  etc.),  but  "thou  hast  un- 
hearledine"  (Delitzsch)  i.e.  "robbed  me  of 
ray  heart,  so  that  it  is  no  more  mine  but  thine," 
hast  "enchanteil  me  and  made  me  wholly  thine 
own."f — With  one  of  thy  glances  ;  literally 
"  with  one  from  thy  eyes,"  i.  e.  with  a  single  one 
of  the  glances  that  proceed  from  them  (Hengs- 
TENB.,  Hitzio,  etc  ) ;  for  the  masc.  nnS3  of  the 
K'thibh,  which  is  certainly  to  be  retained,  can- 
not refer  to  one  of  the  two  eyes  (V^  is  never 
masc),  but  only  to  one  thing  which  comes  forth 
from  the  eyes,  an  etfect  proceeding  from  them.  J — 
With  one  chain  of  thy  necklace.  The 
representation  is  ideal  and  hyperbolical  as  in 
the  preceding  verse.  It  proceeds  in  rapturous 
exaggerations  .as  well  here  where  it  paints  in 
detail,  as  before  where  it  dealt  in  pompous  and 
grandiloquent  expressions.  But  to  be  sure,  in 
/he  matter  of  love,  it  always  remains  true: 
•mall  causes  often  produce  great  elfects  ! —  pj^' 
not  "ringlet,  lock  of  the  front  hair  hanging 
down  on  the  neck"  (Hitzio),   but  neckchaiu,  or 

*  [Patrick  :  "  Sister  is  only  a  word  of  tenderness  and  en- 
dearment nsed  by  liusbands  to  their  wives  ;  as  appears  by  the 
book  of  Tobit  vii.  10  ;  viii.  4,  7."  NoVES,  with  leas  cogency,, 
compares  Tibul.  iii.  1,  26.  Thrupp  is  consequently  not  war- 
ranted in  saying :  "  The  union  of  the  two  appellations  is  of 
itself  an  almost  decisive  objection  against  all  literal  interpre- 
tation of  the  Song.  When  it  is  urged  by  the  literalists  that 
the  term  sister  is  merely  used  a.s  an  expression  of  endear- 
ment, it  may  be  at  once  replied  that  that  is  the  very  last 
term  which  in  chaste  love  a  bridegroom  would  ever  think  of 
applying  to  his  bride."] 

f  [Wordsworth  obtains  substantially  the  same  sense  by 
a  rendering  precisely  the  opposite :  "  Lit. ;  Thou  hast  6e- 
h'-artfd  nw.  It  implies  the  answering  of  heart  to  heart ;  the 
passing  of  one  heart  into  another,  so  as  to  be  united  with  it 
and  fill  it."J 

X  (Williams,  who  remarks  that  "  the  K'ri  and  many  MSS. 
reait  nnX  fem.  to  agree  with  TJ,*,"  endeavors  to  account  for 

the  singularity  of  the  expression  so  understood  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  "  Supposing  the  royal  bridegroom  to  have  bid 
a  profile  or  side  view  of  his  bride  in  the  present  instance, 
only  one  eye  or  one  side  of  her  necklace  would  bo  observable  ; 
yet  this  charms  and  overpowers  him.  Tsrtullian  mentions 
a  custom  in  the  East  of  women  unveiling  only  one  eye  in 
conversation,  while  they  keep  the  other  covered  ;  and  NiEBunR 
mentions  a  like  custom  in  some  parta  of  Arabia.  Trav.  in 
irab.  I.  p.  262."] 


ornament  (comp.  the  plur. :  Prov.  i.  9 ;  Judg. 
viii.  16).  D'jn^X,  since  it  is  plural,  can  neither 
mean  "neck"  (SEPt,  Vulo.,  Hitzio,  etc.)  nor 
be  a  diminutive  of  endearment,  "  tiny  neck  " 
(Qesenids,  Ewald,  Heiliost.,  etc.).  It  must 
rather  denote  something  suspended  about  the 
neck,  a  necklace  or  jewelry  for  the  neck,*  and 
pj;?    a  single  piece   or  constituent  of  it.     What 

had  enchanted  the  king  was  of  course  not  the 
elegance  or  ingenious  workmanship  of  this  orna- 
ment itself,  but  that  Shulamith's  neck  looked  so 
charmingly  in  it.     Comp.  above  on  i.  10. 

Ver.  10.  Hotw  fair  is  thy  love,  my  sister, 
my  bride.  D'Hil  here  again,  not  "  breasts " 
(Sept.,  VuLO.,  Luther),  but  "caresses,  mani- 
festations of  love,"  as  i.  2.  Comp.  generally  i. 
2,  3.  Solomon  here  gives  back  to  his  beloved 
with  larger  measure,  what  she  had  there  de- 
clared of  him  when  absent. 

Ver.  11.  Iiiqaid  honey  thy  lips  distil,  my 
bride ;  honey  and  milk  are  under  thy 
tongue.  As  in  the  preceding  ver.se,  which  like 
the  present  consists  of  three  clauses,  the  first 
two  members  refer  to  one  and  the  same  subject, 
so  these  two  clauses  aim  to  depict  but  one  attri- 
bute or  one  characteristic  of  Shulamith,  viz.,  her 
lovely  discourse,  how  sweetly  she  talked.  For 
it  is  to  this  that  the  figures  of  lips  and  tongue 
point,  comp.  on  the  one  hand  Prov.  v.  3;  vi.  24; 
vii.  5;  xvi.  24;  and  on  the  other  Ps.lv.  22: 
Ixvi.  17;  X.  7;  Pindar,  Nem.  iii.  134;  Theocrit. 
Id.  viii.  82  ff ;  xx.  26  ff.  The  fragrant  spittle  of 
the  kissing  mouth  can  scarcely  be  intended  (vs. 
Dopke,  Magn.,  Weissb.),  in  spite  of  Arabic  and 
classic  parallels,  that  might  be  adduced  (the 
saliva  oris  osculantit  Horat.  Od.  I.  13,  16; 
Catull.  99,  2,  etc.).  For  the  parallels  ii.  14,  v. 
13,  16,  likewise  refer  to  the  loveliness  of  dis- 
cour.se,  not  to  the  sweetness  of  kisses. — And 
the  fragrance  of  thy  garments  is  like  the 
fragrance  of  Lebanon.  As  is  shown  by  the 
parallel,  Hos.  xiv.  7,  the  Lebanon  of  this  pas- 
sage is  not  to  be  converted  into  DJU?  "  frankin- 
cense "  as  Dopke  imagines,  on  account  of  the 
"  sicut  odor  thuris"  of  the  VuLo.  (which  proba- 
bly arose  from  misunderstanding  the  uf  oafii/ 
Aifjavoii  of  the  Sept.).  Modern  travellers  testify 
(ScuuLz,  Lett.  d.  Allerh.,  Th.  V.  p.  459 ;  Zeller, 
Bibl.  Worterbuch  fiir  d.  Clirisll.  Volk  II.  p.  42) 
that  the  cedar  groves  of  Lebanon  diffuse  a  strong 
Jjalsamic  odor.  Isaac  also  commends  the  scent  of 
his  son  Esau's  garments  (Gen.  xxvii.  27) ;  and  so 
Ps.  xlv.  9  praises  the  garments  of  a  king  cele- 
brating his  marriage,  which  were  perfumed  with 
myrrh,  aloes  and  cassia. 

6.   CoNTiNDATioN.   Vers.  12-15. 

Ver.  12.  A  garden  locked  is  my  sister,  my 
bride ;  a  spring  locked,  a  fountain  sealed.  If 

instead  of  7J  in  4  we  were  with  about  50  Heb.  Mss. 
of  Kennicott,  the  Sept.,  Vclq,  Str.,  etc.,^  to  read 

*  [Whether  this  conclusion  be  correct  or  not,  the  argument 
here  urged  in  it.s  favor  is  plainly  not  d-cisive  ;  for  the  plural 
of  TX'a,  tlie  ordinary  word  tor  "  neck,"  is  more  freguently 

T  - 

used  in  a  singular  than  a  plural  sense. — Tr.] 
t  [Su  Thrupp;  The  receiv.d   Uebrw  text  here  gives  not 

M   but    7j   which  our   E.  V.  renders   "appring."     But  the 

word  never  occurs  elsewhere  in  this  sense:  nor  is  it  indeed, 
iu  the  singular,  applied  to  aught  but  u  heap  of  btonis.j 


III.  6— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


60 


[i  again,  the  comparison  with  the  garden,  being 
immediately  repeated,  would  appear  to  be  the 
main  and  prominent  thought.  But  it  is  evi- 
dently more  suitable  that  the  figure  of  the 
spring,  which  is  not  carried  out  any  further  in 
what  immediately  follows,  sliould  be  twice  re- 
peated, in  order  that  it  may  not  be  too  abrupt. 

The  change  of  the  unusual  li  (which  means 
spring,  fountain,  as  appears  from  .)osh.  xv.  10: 
Judg.  i.  15;  comp.  English  well,  of  whicli  the 
German  "  Wellen  "  {leaves)  is  the  plural)  into  JJ- 
which  had  been  used  just  before,  would  also  be 
eiisier  to  explain,  than  a  conversion  of  the  latter 
into  the  former  expression.  The  garden  and  the 
spring  being  locked  up  and  sealed,  naturally  in- 
dicates that  the  access  is  open  only  to  the  owner 
and  possessor  himself.  Comp.  ver.  16,  where 
Shulamith  designates  her  hidden  charms  first  as 
her  own  garden,  then  as  Solomon's;  also  Prov. 
V.  1.5-18,  wh?re  ilie  figure  of  a  spring  is  likewise 
applied  to  the  natural  relation  between  a  wife 
and  her  wedded  lord,  so  that  she  is  represented 
by  a  fountain  absolutely  inaccessible  to  all  men 
except  her  husband,  and  the  right  of  the  latter 
freely  to  enjoy  and  to  refresh  himself  with  the 
waters  of  this  spring  is  clearly  presupposed.* 
\  previous  coyness  of  Shulamith  toward  her 
lover  (HiTZiG,  Vaih.,  etc.)  is  not  at  all  the  thing 
intended. 

Vers.  13,  14.  A  more  minute  description  of  the 
garden,  i.  e.,  of  the  charms  of  Shulamith,  in  so 
far  as  they  may  be  represented  by  tlie  choice 
plants  and  delicious  fruits  of  a  pleasure  garden, 
accessible  only  to  tlie  king;  an  expansion  there- 
fore of  12  II  (as  12  b  is  more  fully  unfolded  in 
Ter.    15).     Thy   plants  are   an    orchard   of 

pomegranates.  HTO  means  here  as  in  Ex. 
,\xxi.  5,  not  a  plantation  (Hesgstesb.),  but  a 
single  plant,  literally  a  shoot,  sprout  (comp.  XVW 
Ps  Ixxx.  \'l;  Jer.  xvii.  8;  Ezek.  xvii.  6,  7).  By 
this  figurative  expression  are  denoted  the  charms, 
the  ravishing  beauties  of  the  beloved  in  general, 
not  specially  her  limbs  (Hitziq),  or  the  fragrance 
of  her  unguents  (Weissb.).  A  particular  ex- 
planation of  llie  individual  products  of  the  gar- 
den is,  on  the  whole,  impossible,  and  it  leads  to 

what  is  at  variance  with  good  taste.  D'JSI 
pomegr  mates,  i.  e.,  the  trees,  not  their  fruit 
(UoPKE,  EwALn,  Weissb  ) ;  for  the  fruit  is  men- 
tioned  afterward.^. — Ou    the    different    opinions 

*  [Fry  imagines*  tliat  this  and  the  following  verses  do  not 
"  contain  comparisons  of  tiie  bride,  but  are  descriptive  of 
the  residence  i)repared  for  lier  reception."  He  translates : 
"  A  garden  is  enclosed,  ray  sister  espoused,"  e'c.  MiUNDRELL, 
in  his  Journal/  says  :  "  About  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  paces  from  these  pools  [i.  e.  of  Solomon]  is  the  fountain 
from  which  they  principally  derive  their  waters.  This  tlie 
friars  told  us  was  the  sealed  fountain,  to  which  the  holy 
spouse  is  compared.  Cant.  iv.  12.  And  they  pretend  a  tnuii- 
tion  that  King  Solomon  shut  up  these  springs,  and  kept  the 
door  of  them  sealed  with  his  signet,  to  preserve  the  waters 
for  his  own  drinking  in  their  natural  freshness  and  purity. 
Nor  w,is  it  dith  'tilt  tliiis  to  secure  them,  they  rising  under 
ground,  and  having  no  avenue  to  them  but  a  little  hole  like 
the  mouth  of  a  narrow  well.  These  waters  wind  along 
through  two  rooms  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  which  are 
arched  over  witii  stone  arches,  very  ancient,  perhaps  the 
work  of  Solomon  himself.  Below  the  pool  runs  down  a  nar- 
row, rocky  valley,  inclosed  on  bolh  sides  with  high  moun- 
tains ;  this,  they  told  us,  was  the  enclosed  garden  alluded  to 
in  the  same  Song."] 


respecting  the  etymology  of  ^T'^S.  jomp.  th« 
Introduction,  g  3  Rem.  2. — With  most  excel- 
lent frtiit ;  lit.,  "with  fruit  of  excellencies  " 
(D'lJD  as  vii.  14).  The  fruit  of  the  pomegranate 
trees  before  mentioned  may  very  well  be  in- 
tended ;  Djt?  with  does  not  necessarily,  as  is  shown 
by  i.  11,  introduce  something  entirely  new  and 
of  a  difterent  sort  (vs.  Weissb.)  —  Cyprus 
flowers  ^ith  nards.  As  already  remarked 
on  i.  12,  14,  the  Cyprus  flower  or  alhenna  was 
the  only  one  of  these  plants,  which  was  also 
cultivated  in  Palestine.  The  nard  grass,  grown 
only  in  India,  is  therefore  simply  added  here  for 
the  sake  of  the  delightfully  fragrant  unguent 
obtained  from  it,  as  in  the  following  verse  in- 
cense, calamus,  cinnamon,  and  probably  also 
saS'ron  are  exotic  plants  known  to  the  Hebrews 
only  from  their  aromatic  products.  The  descrip- 
tion accordingly  loses  itself  here  again  in  rap- 
turous exaggerations  and  improbabilities  in 
natural  history,  which  however  at  the  same  time 
bear  witness  to  an  extensive  knowledge  of  na- 
ture (comp.  Introduc.  J  3,  Rem.  1). — Naid  and 

crocus,  calamus  and  cinnamon.  03*^3, 
(?HAi.D.  D3"''3.  Sept.  KpoKo^  (comp.  Sanskrit, 
kunkuma)  is  the  saffron  flower,  (Crocus  sativus) 
indigenous  in  India,  but  introduced  also  into 
Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  and  consequently  pei- 
haps  also  into  Palestine.  A  water  was  prepared 
from  it  for  smelling  bottles,  witli  a  pungent 
but  agreeable  odor,  which  was  a  great  favorite 
in  antiquity;  comp.  Winer  R.  W.  B.  Art. 
"Safran." — njp,  Sept.  KMauo^,  in,  according  t(i 
Jer.  vi.  20;  Isa.  xliii.  24;  Ezek.  xxvii.  19.  »f 
article  of  trade  brought  from  Arabia  Felix, 
sweet  cane,  calamus.  The  calamus  (juneiis 
odoratus,  Plin.  XII.  22;  XXI.  18)  which  accord- 
ing to  TuEOPHRASTUs,  Pliny  and  Strabo,  grew 
in  Coelesyria  and  by  the  lake  of  Gennesaret, 
was  of  an  inferior  and  less  valuable  sort. —  t^OJp 
a  Semitic  name,  as  it  would  appear  (lit.  "the 
Teed,"  or  the  "rolled  together,"  from  OJp— HJp), 

in  case  it  is  not  of  Indian  origin,  and  connected 
witli  the  Malay  kaiiwmatus  (so  Rodiger,  Addita- 
menta  ad  Tkesaur.,  p.  Ill)  signifies  cinnamon, 
which,  according  to  Hlrodot.  III.  Ill  came 
through  Arabia  from  the  remotest  south,  that  is, 
probably  from  Ceylon. — 'With  every  variety 
of  incense  \woods,  i.  e.,  with  every  species  of 
woo  I,  which  yields  a  fragrant  gum  of  the  nature 
of  frankincense,  or  when  pulverized  is  used  as 
"  aromatic  dust,"  or  as  a  powder  to  be  sprinkled 
for   fumigation.     In    opposition   to   the    reading 

Viyj  ■'XJ?  (Sept.,  Velth.,  Dopke),  see  Hitzig 
in  Inc. — Myrrh  and  aloes,  ■with  all  the  chief 
spices.     For   niyi-rh    comp.   on   i.    13 ;   and  for 

aloes  (nnns  or  D''7nX.  as  Prov.  vii.  17. ;  Num. 
xxiv.  G;  Gr.  n-)a?2nxnv,  Sanskr.  aguru,  aghil) 
see  Winer,  R.  W.  B.— Under  "  all  the  chief  (lit., 
all  heads  of)  aromatic  plants,"  balsams  or  spices 
(COty^  a  general  expression,  as  in  Ex.  xxx.  2.''.; 
Esth.  ii.  12),  in  addition  to  the  substances  al- 
ready named,  cassia  is  especially  to  be  regarded 
as  included.  For  according  to  Ex.  xxx.  23  ff , 
this   particular   aromatic   product   was    mingled 


90 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


III.  6— V.  1. 


with  myrrh,  calamus  and  cinnamoD,  in  the  holy 
anointing  oil,  and  ia  Ps.  xlv.  9  (8)  it  appears 
with  myrrh  and  aloes  among  the  precious  spices, 
with  which  the  garments  of  the  royal  bridegroom 
were  perfumed. 

Ver.  15.  Further  expansion  of  ver.  12  l>. — A 
garden  spring  (art  thou),  a  ■well  of  living 
^vater.  Comp.  Gen.  xxvi.  19;  Jer.  ii.  13.  by 
the  "garden  spring"  (lit.  spring  of  gardens) 
HiTziG  understands  the  fountain  of  Siloah  in 
particular — an    assumption   which   is   the   more 

gratuitous,  as  the  allusion  to  n7ty  which  he  finds 
in  D'n 7ty  ver.  13,  exists  merely  in  the  fancy  of 
tile  overacute  modern  critic,  in  spite  of  Neh.  iii. 
1  "> :  Isa.  Tiii.  0;  Eccles.  ii.  6,  etc. — And  streams 
from  Lebanon,  i.  e..  water  as  fresh  and  de- 
lightfully refreshing  as  the  gushing  streams  fed 
by  the  snows  of  Lebanon,  Jer.  xviii.  14.  On 
the  figure  comp.  besides  Prov.  v.  1-5,  the  Pheni- 
cian  inscription  of  Kition  (No.  2)  adduced  by 
ll!T7.!G,  in  which  a  husband  calls  his  deceased 
wife  '"nSOi  i.  e.,  "0  4?.^?'  "thespringof  my  life." 
6.  The  complete  onion  of  the  lovers,  ver.  16, 
T.  1. — Ibn  Eze.\,  followed  by  Ewald  and  l)E- 
I.ITZSCH,  correctly  pats  the  whole  of  ver.  16  into 
the  mouth  of  Shulaiuiih.     The  contrast  of  "jJ  mi/ 

(/■irdcn  in  a  with  13J7  his  garden  in  h  does  not 
make  in  favor  of  two  speakers,  but  simply  brings 
out  the  thought  that  h'.'r  garden  is  his,  and  there- 
fore that  she,  with  all  she  h.as  and  is,  belongs  to 
him;  a  delicately  refined  suggestion  which  is 
lost  by  dividing  the  verse  between  the  lover  and 
/li.^  beloved,  as  approved  in  recent  times  (Dopice, 
M\r,N.,  BoTTi'ii.,  HiTZ.,  Ren.,  etc.). 

Ver.  16.  Avrake,  north  wind,  and  come, 
O  south.  Shulaniith  in  her  poetically  exeiie.l 
frame  summons  just  these  two  winds  to  blow 
upon  her  garden,  because  neither  the  east  wind 
with  its  parching  effects  and  its  frequent  storms 
(Gen.  xli.  6  ;  Isa.  xxvii.  8),  nor  the  raiuy  west 
wind  (1  Kin.  xviii.  44  f ;  Luke  xii.  54)  would  be 
suitable  in  tlje  connection  ;  and  yet  two  opposite 
winds  must  be  named,  as  it  is  not  a  blowing  off 
or  blowing  awiiy  tliat  is  intended,  but  causing 
the  odors  to  flow  forth  and  wafting  them  in  all 
directions.*  That  its  spices  may  flow,  i.  e., 
that  every  thing  in  me.  which  pleases  my  lover, 
all  ray  charms  may  show  themselves  to  him  in 
tlicir  full  power  and  loveliness — Let  my  be- 
loved come  to  his  garden,  and  eat  his  ex- 
cellent fruits.  The  language  here  becomes 
pl.iiner.  and  passes  over  into  a  solicitation  to  her 
lover  to  enjoy  to  the  full,  her  charms  which  he 
had  been  praising  (for  '7JX  "to  eat"  in  this 
comp.  Prov.  xxx.  20.)  Yet  she  expresses  this 
wish  not  by  a  direct  address  to  him,  but  by  speak- 

*  [BuRROWES :  "  The  east  wind  is,  in  Palestine,  generally 
withering  and  tempestuous;  the- west  wind  brings  from  the 
M'-.i  cloud.s  of  rain,  or  darlc,  damp  air ;  tiio  nortti  wind  is  cool- 
ins  and  refrcslinig,  its  po;ver  being  broken  by  the  mountain 
rliuin  of  Lebanon;  ttie  south  wind,  though  hot,  has  its  heat 
mitigated  in  the  upland  regions,  and  is  never  stormy.  The 
north  wind  is  called  on  to  "arise,"  because  it  is  moi'e  power- 
ful and  strong  ;  the  south  wind  to  ■'  come,"  .as  tliougJi  it  were 
the  soft  breathing  zephyr.  The  north  wind  brought  clear 
weather;  the  south  wind  waJi  warm  and  moist.  The  bride 
here  calls  for  the  north  wind,  that  thereby  all  clouds  may  he 
■wopt  away  and  the  sky  cleared;  and  for  the  south  wind  that 
ita  genial  influence  might  ripen  1h"  fruits  ol"  th-  garden  and 
Jraw  t.>rth  the  fragrance  ot  the  floweii.'j 


iiig  of  him  in  the  third  person — a  token  of  her 
chaste,  modest  and  bashful  mind. — Chap.  v.  1.  I 
come  to  my  garden,  my  sister,  my  bride. 

That  Solomon  is  here  the  speaker,  whilst  full  of 
rapture  he  sets  himself  to  comply  with  his  be- 
loved's invitation  and  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  her  loving  embrace  incontestably  appears  from 
the  correspondence  of  "(1X3  with  K3'  in  i  of  the 
preceding  verse,  and  of  'flyJ^  here  with  '3S'l 
there.  These  verbs,  as  well  as  "J[1'"1X  (="nDp7 
"I  pluck,"  Ex.  xvi.  16)  and  'n'riC  are  not  to  be 
taken  as  preterites:  "I  have  come,"  c/c,  (Del.. 
as  the  Sept.,  Vulg.,  Lothek,  etc.,)  because  the 
acme  of  love's  enjoyment,  to  which  both  are 
tending,  was  by  no  means  reached  and  exhausted 
by  a  single  conjugal  embrace,  but  strictly  as 
present,  as  serving  to  state  that  which  is  in  the 
very  act  of  being  performed.*  Comp.  •1''ri''Sl;  i. 
9,  and  numerous  examples  in  Ewald,  Lehrh.,  \ 
135  c,  [(JREEN's  Hcb.  Gram.,  I  202,  2.]— I  pluck 

my  myrrh I  eat  my  honey 

I  drink  my  wine.  A  threefold  declaration  in 
different  forms  of  his  immediate  readiness  to  en- 
joy the  charms  of  his  beloved,  with  a  partial  re- 
turn tothefiguresin  iv.  10, 11,  13. f — Eatfriends, 
drink  and  drink  to  repletion,  O  beloved. 
Every  other  understanding  of  these  closing  verses 
seems  inappropriate  and  forced  but  that  already 
suggested,  according  to  which  they  are  an  en- 
cour.aging  address  of  the  bridegroom  to  the  wed- 
ding guests,  who  remain  behind  at  the  table. 
Tlius,  e.  g.,  that  of  Ewald,  that  Shulamith  des- 
cribes in  these  words  the  way  in  which  her  dis- 
tant lover,  if  she  were  with  him  and  were  cele- 
brating her  marriage  with  him,  would  remember 
his  friends  ;  the  strange  and  burlesque  idea  of 
ISoTTCiiER  referred  to  above,  p.  72  ;  that,  too,  of 
EicuiiouN,  Magnds,  Hitziq:  that  the  words  are 
an  exhortation  of  the  poet  to  the  two  lovers  to 
enjoy  their  love  and  intoxicate  themselves  there- 
with ;  and  the  like  views  of  others,  according  to 
which  Solomon  either  encourages  his  beloved 
(Umbu.,  IIengstenb.,  HAHN)orshe  him  (Weissb.) 
to  the  enjoyment  of  love.  These  latter  views  are 
based  upon  aa  untenable  translation  of  D'TH  by 
"love"  as  though  it  were  the  object  of  113tyi  ("in- 
toxicate yourselves  with  love")  for  D'HT  with 
the  scriptio  plena  is  plur.  of  in  "beloved" 
(comp.   on  i.  2),   and   consequently    Prov.  vii.  18 

(where  it  is  D'"IT  "caresses"  with  the  scriptio 
defectiva)  cannot  decide  for  the  present  case.  The 
Sept.,  Vulo.,  Luther,  Dopke,  Vaih.,  Del.,  are 
substantially  correct,  the  last  of  whom  adds  the 
just  remark  in  explanation:  "For  each  (of  the 
guestc)  was  to  have  his  share  in  tasting  the  joy 
of  this  day." 


*  [There  is  no  reference  in  the  language  here  employed  to 
anything  low  and  sensual,  but  to  pure  and  elevated  enjoy- 
ment in  the  society  and  converse  of  bis  charming  bride.  The 
passage  is  thus  appropriately  paraphrased  by  Tatlor  :  "  I  al- 
ready enjoy  the  pleasure  of  your  company  and  conversation ; 
the.se  are  as  grateful  to  my  mind  as  delicious  food  could  be  to 
mypal.ate:  I  could  not  drink  wine  and  milk  with  greater 
satisfaction."  He  also  gives  a  like  figurative  turn  to  the  last 
clause ;  "And  you,  my  friends,  partake  the  relish  of  those 
pleasures  which  you  hear  from  the  lips  of  my  beloved,  and  of 
those  elegancies  which  you  heboid  in  her  deportment  and  ad 
dress." — Tr.] 

t  [But  see  'in  vii.  13.— Tr.) 


I 


III.  8— V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


DOCTRINAL    AND    ETHICAL. 

1.  That  the  action  of  the  Canticles  reaches  its 
centre  and  acme  in  this  act,  and  especially  at  the 
close  of  it,  cannot  be  doubted  upon  an  unpreju- 
diced view  of  the  whole.  "The  newly  wedded 
bride  is  now  in  the  arms  of  her  husband  and 
king.  Their  ardent  mutual  love  is  the  joyous 
spectacle  pi-esented  to  a  festive  assembly,  which 
is  attached  to  the  king  by  friendship  and  love. 
Every  where  the  feeling  suited  to  a  wedding,  en- 
joyment, and  this  enjoyment  shared  by  loving 
sympathy.  Arrived  at  the  summit  of  love's  mys- 
tery and  moving  there  with  holy  purity  tlie  sonj 
here  dies  away  amid  the  revelry  of  the  guests." 
(D?;l..  p.  115.) 

2.  The  recognition  of  the  central  and  superior 
significance  of  this  section  is  of  necessity  precluded 
upon  the  allegorical  interpretation,  bucause  it 
fails  to  perceive  the  organic  progress  of  the  ac- 
tion in  general,  and  supposes  the  union  of  the 
two  lovers  to  have  become  complete  long  before 
this,  (eorap.  above,  p.  .56)  so  as  neither  to  require 
nor  admit  of  increase.  This  unio  mi/stica,  this 
perfect  union  of  Christ  with  His  church  or  with 
the  individual  soul  it  consequently  tinds  not  at 
the  conclusion  merely,  but  already  indicated  at 
the  very  beginning  of  tiie  present  act  in  the  **bod 
of  Solomon,"  iii.  7,  by  which  it  is  true  many  alle- 
Rorists  understand  every  different  .sort  of  thing, 
{■!. (jr.,  Ibm  Ezu.v,  the  land  of  Israel;  the  Taeo. 
and  in  recent  times  again  Jo.  L.\nge,  the  temple; 
Sanctius,  prayer;  Tueodoret,  the  Holy  Sciip- 
tnres  ;  ApoNius,  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  0si.\n- 
UKE,  the  free  exercise  of  religion  even!)  But 
the  majority  find  represented  in  it  the  communion 
of  believers  with  Christ  at  the  acme  of  its  per- 
fection, whether  their  particular  explanation 
points  to  Christ  Himself  (Ambrose),  or  they  find 
symbolized  in  it  the  heart  of  the  Christian  be- 
liever in  conformity  with  Eph.  iii.  17  (CoccEi., 
eJc.)  or  the  free  access  of  believers  to  the  throne 
of  grace  in  this  world  and  the  next  (.Ton.  M.vRcii.), 
or  •'  the  church  militant  on  earth,  in  which  many 
children  are  born  to  the  Lord  "  (Starke  after 
many  of  the  older  writers,  as  Gregory  the  Great, 
Cassiodor  ,  Beda,  Calov.,  Heusisch,  etc.),  or 
"  the  intimate  relation  between  the  heavenly 
Solomon  and  the  church"  (He.vost.),  or  the 
*'  kingdom  administered  by  Solomon,  so  far  as  its 
power  is  directed  ad  cxtra'^  (Haun).  Iti  the 
case  of  the  sedan  or  magnificent  couch  ( [V13X  iii. 
9)  this  divergence  of  interpretations  is  repeated 
with  a  prevailing  disposition  to  refer  it  to  the 
«H«)  mystica.  For  besides  the  holy  of  holies  in 
the  temple  (Targ.).  or  the  word  of  God  (Mercer.), 
or  the  church  (Zelts.),  or  the  human  nature  of 
(!!irist  (Ambbos.,  Athasas.,  Greo.,  Beda,  An- 
3ELM,  Jo.  Laxge),  it  is  particularly  the  work  of 
redemption  with  the  gracious  results  proceeding 
from  it  (Sanctius:  similarly  CoccEtn.s,  Groene- 
WEonN,  >ta:;ke,  elc  .)  or  as  expressed  by  Heng- 
stexbekg  :  "the  glory  of  those  measures  by 
which  tlie  heavenly  Solomon  brings  the  Gentile 
nations  into  His  kingdom,  '  that  is  supposed  to 
be  intended  by  this  figure  of  the  sedan.*     It  is 

*fWslss  expounds  it  of  the  holy  of  holies  in  Solomon's 
t.imp!e;  the  (.U:nv.vv  version  of  "  i'lif  teiiipte  whieh  Solomon 
m:itle;'    TflRUPP  anil   WoRD.swrjRTH.  of  the  cross  of  Christ: 


the  same  with  iii.  11,  where  the  "day  of  Solo- 
mon's marriage  "  according  to  Starke  signifies 
three  things:  1.  The  day  of  salvation,  when  a 
sinner  yields  to  converting  grace,  and  is  united 
to  Christ  by  faith  ;  2.  The  day  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  just,  when  Christ  will  make  them  par- 
takers of  tlie  blessedness  of  the  world  to  come. 
3.  The  time  when  the  Jewish  people,  who  have 
long  rejected  Him  shall  crown  Him  in  faith  and 
publicly  acknowledge  Him  as  their  bridegroom — 
an  explanation  with  which  most  of  the  older  and 
the  later  writers  (even  Henqstenb.,  Hahn,  etc.,) 
substantially  agree,  especially  in  so  far  that 
nearly  all  of  them  understand  by  the  mother  of 
Solomon  the  church  of  the  Old  Testament  or  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  by  the  crown  with  wliich 
she  adorns  her  son  the  entire  body  of  converted 
souls,  which  are  an  ornament  and  an  honor  to 
the  Messiah,*  comp.  Phil.  iv.  1  ;  1  Thes.  ii.  19, 
etc. 

This  method  of  putting;  every  possible  inter- 
pretation upon  every  particular  thing,  and  thus 
attaining  an  extravagant  exuberance  of  multi- 
farious significations,  is  also  followed,  of  course, 
by  the  allegorists  in  the  enthusiastic  description 
of  the  beauty  of  the  bride  in  iv.  1  if.  Tlie  hair 
of  Shulamith  compared  with  the  flock  of  goats  is 
made  to  signify  either  the  entire  body  of  believers 
or  the  weak  and  despised  members  of  the  church, 
or  on  the  contrary,  those  who  strive  after  a  higher 
measure  of  perfection,  the  prelates  of  the  church 
who  have  a  keen  eye  like  the  goats,  seek  their 
food  on  the  summits,  eat  what  is  green  and  chew 
the  cud,  and  have  parted  hoofs  and  horns,  where- 
with to  fight  the  heretics!  The  teeth  of  the  be- 
loved are  prelates  who  feed  upon  the  Scriptures, 
or  teachers  who  attack  the  heretics;  the  lips 
either  the  preachers  of  God's  word  or  confessions 
of  faith  of  the  church;  the  neck  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures or  the  steadfastness  and  assured  hope  of 
believers;  the  breasts  compared  with  twin  roes 
either  the  law  and  the  gospel,  or  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  or  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  or  the 
e.islern  and  western  church,  or  baptism  and  the 
Lord's    Supper   as   the    two   sacraments   of  the 


The  Westminster  Ansot.\tions,  Moody  Stu.\rt  and  B.  M. 
Smith,  of  the  person  of  Christ;  .\delaide  Xewton,  of  the 
church;  Aissworth,  of  Christ  and  His  church:  Scott,  the 
everlasting  covenant  which  Christ  h:ia  meditated  in  our  be- 
half; Patrick,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  whicli  the 
church  is  carried  triumphantly  through  the  world ;  Williams, 
the  gospel  in  its  onward  progress;  t'RV  and  BcRROW.vs,  that 
conveyance,  or  those  methods  of  divine  grace  by  whieli  thM 
behever  is  carried  onward  toward  heaven;  Gill  and  1Il.nry, 
hesitate  between  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  the  ctiurch,  th« 
gospel,  and  the  plan  of  salvation.  Bdrrowes  says :  "It  seeiiw 
no  part  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  that  we  should  take  tin*) 
description  to  pieces  and  try  to  allegorize  the  several  parts. 
Thrupp  also  conveniently  declines  to  carry  the  allegory 
through  in  all  its  details ;  "  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  tliuc 
any  signilicaDCe  is  intended  in  the  assigauieuL  ot  separate 
materials  to  particular  parts  of  the  vehicle."  Scott,  however, 
is  ready  with  distinct  meanings  for  the  "pillars  of  silver,"  the 
"bottom  of  gold,"  and  the  "covering  of  purple."  And  Thrupp 
himself  insists  that  every  separate  feature  of  the  bride  in  iv. 
t-7  "  must  have  its  own  distinct  allegorical  import.  Thy 
comparisons  would  be  as  extiuvagant  on  the  allegorical  as  on 
the  literal  interpretation,  if  the  former  were  not  to  be  carried 
out  into  details;  and  in  fact  that  intentretation  is  virtually 
literal  which  rt-tuses  to  se^-  any  allegory  except  in  the  general 
words  '  Thou  art  fair.' "] 

*  Besides  this  prevalent  form  of  the  spiritu.al  interpretiition 
of  iii.  11  there  are  various  others  of  a  more  tritiing  character,  e.s- 
pecially  among  the  older  exegetes  of  whom,  e.  q,,  Beda  and 
Anselm  expound  the  wedding  day  of  Christ's  conception  and 
birth:  Hovorius  v.  ActU-V  and  Bernard  of  the  de;ith  and 
ri-'3ur:'?ctit>ii  of  tl^e  Lord 'and  tlien  the  "crown"  naturally 


92 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


in.  6— V.  1. 


church!*  The  locking  up  of  the  garden  it.  12 
ff.  deootes  the  strong  protection  with  which  God 
surrounds  His  church  as  with  a  wall  of  fire  ;  the 
sealing  is  the  gracious  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  church  to  enligtilen  and  preserve  it, 
Eph.  iv.  30.  The  blowing  of  the  nortb  and  south 
wind.  It.  16  also  signifies  the  Holy  Spirit  in  tlie 
varied  operations  of  His  grace,  purifying,  quick- 
ening, comforting,  rendering  fruitful,  etc. ;  and 
the  "  coming  of  the  bridegroom  into  his  garden  " 
(v.  1)  according  to  the  chronological  expositors 
denotes  the  dawn  of  some  new  epoch  in  church 
history,  e.  g.,  according  to  CoccEius  the  times 
immediately  succeeding  Oonst.\ntine  the  Great; 
according  to  Heunisch  the  ante-reformation 
period  from  the  time  of  the  great  Schi.sm  (1.378); 
according  to  CoiiN.  a  L.iPiDEthe  incipient  old  age 
of  the  cliurch,  elc,  but  according  to  the  greater 
lumber  the  particular  times  when  Christ  enters 
■with  the  heavenly  blessings  of  His  grace  into  the 
hearts  of  believers  (Rev.  iii.  20;  John  xiv.  23), 
or  the  threefold  advent  of  the  Redeemer:  1.  In 
ihe  form  of  a  servant  to  found  His  church.  2. 
His  invisible  coming  by  His  Holy  Spirit  to  every 
individual  of  His  people.  3.  His  eschatological 
coming  at  the  judgment  and  the  consummation. 
Compare  generally  the  multitude  of  old  interpre- 
tations of  this  sort  collected  by  Shrke  on  this 
section;  also  Wilkens,  Fray  Lnis  de  Leon,  p. 
207,  215,  and  Dl'Usch,  Si/mbolik  cler  Clirisllichen 
Religion,  Vol.  II.  (Tiihing.,  1859).) /Jmsi'm. 

3.  Against  such  excesses  and  capricious  trifling 
there  is  no  proiection  but  in  that  historical  exe- 
gesis, which  on  the  basis  of  the  meaning  of  the 
words  impartially  ascertained  endeavors,  it  is 
true,  to  point  out  the  relations  in  which  this  ac- 
tion 8  amis  to  the  mysteries  of  revelation  and  re- 
demption, and  so  to  make  application  of  its  con- 
tents to  tlie  matters  of  the  Christian  life,  but 
conscientiously  refiains  from  all  seeking  or 
chasing  after  any   direct  spiritual   and   practical 

becomes  either  tlie  crown  of  thorns,  or  the  crown  of  glory  be- 
longing to  His  r>.-.suiTec:tion  uinl  exultation),  whilst  chronologi- 
cal expositors  as  RKl\HARl>,Hi;tjNlscH,  rfc,  connect  the  wedding 
day  with  the  epoch  of  C'oNSTAXTlNE  the  Great,  or  the  coiiver- 
aion  of  the  heathen  in  a  tiody  by  the  chnrch,  and  Catholics 
like  CoRNi-LlDS  .V  Lapide  and  Calmet  explain  the  *'  mother '"  of 
Solomon  of  the  Virgin  Mary.'' 

*  IThe  two  breasts  are  further  explained  in  the  notes  of  the 
DowAY  version  to  mean  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  our 
neighbor;  in  the  GEiravA,  knowledge  and  zeal ;  by  MooDT 
Stuart  and  M.  B.  Smith,  faith  and  love ;  Patrick,  the  preach- 
ers respectively  amon^  Jewish  Christians  and  among  the 
Gentiles;  Ainsworth,  the  loving  alTection,  wholesome  doc- 
trines, sweet  consolations  and  gracious  beneficence  of  the 
church;  Scott,  the  believers  simplicity  of  affection  for  Christ 
and  the  delight  which  Christ  reciprocally  takes  in  him ; 
Tbrdpp,  Weiss  and  W  oRnswoRTn,  the  fountains  of  nourish- 
ment whence  is  drawn  the  milk  of  pure  and  sound  doctrine ; 
while  Gill  allows  a  choice  between  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
the  two  Testaments,  the  two  Sacraments  and  the  two  great 
commandments  of  the  law.  Bcrrowes,  whom  none  can  sus- 
pect of  an  indisiMisition  to  allegorize,  h.as  the  good  t^iste  to  re- 
volt at  such  mangling  of  inspired  emblems.  He  says,  p.  3.o9, 
"  In  the  comparison  of  the  foregoing  verses  the  thing  to  he  il- 
lustrated is  the  general  beauty  of  the  pious  soul  in  the  eyes  of 
Jesus.  Ijosing  sight  of  tliis  most  commentators  have  marred 
the  passage  by  separating  these  emblems  from  one  another, 
and  appropriating  them  toother  uses  than  the  one  intended 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  \Vhat  would  be  thought  of  a  person  who 
under  the  plea  of  heightening  the  etfect  of  a  picture  by  a  great 
artist,  should  cut  out  the  sevenil  figures,  the  trees,  tin-  waters. 
the  tinte<l  clouds,  and  exhibit  them  apart  in  every  iiii:iginable 
variety  of  light  and  position?  This  would  show  something 
more  than  want  c»f  judgment.  No  argument  would  be  neces- 
liary  Ui  n-ake  us  feel  that  such  was  never  the  mind  of  the 
artist.  The  common  inelbodof  expounding  this  and  the  other 
llindre<l  passiigi'S  in  the  Song,  seems  no  less  unreasonable,"] 


interpretation  of  individual  passages,  much  less 
of  individual  words.  To  such  an  exegesis  then- 
appear  to  be  chiefly  three  particulars  of  especial 
consequence  in  that  stage  of  the  action  which  is 
represented  in  this  act :  the  elevation  of  the  bride 
from  a  low  condition  to  royal  dignity  and  glorv  ; 
her  wondrous  beauty  as  the  ground  of  this  eleva- 
tion ;  and  her  chaste  and  bumble  mind  which 
impels  her  to  belong  only  to  her  lover  and  to  live 
for  him  alone. 

a.  The  simple  country  maiden  from  the  tribe 
of  Issachar  is  raised  to  be  queen  of  all  Israel, 
conducted  in  Solomons  stately  couch  with  a 
brilliant  military  escort,  welcomed  by  the  women 
of  Jerusalem  with  pride  and  admiration,  brought 
for  her  marriage  to  his  splendid  palace  in  Zion 
by  Solomon,  the  most  famous  prince  of  his  time. 
Here  full  of  rapture  he  declares  lo  her  that  he 
loves  and  admires  her  more  than  all  beside,  that 
she  has  completely  won  and  captivated  him  so 
that  his  heart  belongs  to  her  alone,  and  that  she  is 
henceforth  to  exchange  her  humble  surroundings 
and  her  country  home  for  his  royal  palace  and 
its  rich  enjoyments  and  brilliant  pleasures  (see 
especially  iv.  8,  9).  In  like  manner  Christ,  who 
is  a  greater  than  Solomon,  who  is  King  of  all 
kings,  and  Lord  of  all  lords,  has  exalted  His 
church  from  misery  and  a  low  estate  to  a  pariici- 
pation  in  His  divine  glory;  He  has  made  ihe 
despised  and  forsaken  "  His  sister  and  bride,"  a 
joint-heir  of  His  eternal  glory  in  heaven,  has  re- 
ceived her  into  His  kingdom,  into  His  heavenly 
Father's  house  and  there  prepared  a  plnce  for  her, 
which  she  shall  never  be  willing  to  exchange  for 
her  former  abode  in  a  remote  and  foreign  land, 
in  the  wilderness  of  a  sinful,  earthly  life.  For 
the  infinite  superiority  of  that  ex.aliatinn  which 
the  church  of  the  Lord  has  experienced  above 
that  of  Shulamith,  and  which  every  penitent  and 
believing  soul  in  it  still  experiences  day  by  day, 
is  shown  in  this  that  the  shepherd  girl  from 
northern  Palestine  might  with  good  reason  look 
wistfully  back  to  her  poverty  from  Solomon's 
palace,  that  her  desire  to  return  from  the  sultry 
life  of  the  court  to  Ihe  fresh  cool  mountain  air  of 
her  home  was  but  too  well  justified,  whilst  the 
soul  which  has  been  translated  out  of  the  wi  etch- 
edness  of  a  sinful  worldly  life  into  the  blessed 
communion  of  God's  grace,  has  no  occasion  nor 
right  to  be  diss.itisfied  with  iis  new  home,  bul  on 
the  contrary  has  gained  unmingled  joy,  deligiil 
and  imperishable  glory  instead  of  its  former  con- 
dition of  unhappy  bondage  and  darkness. 

b.  The  cause  of  Shulamith's  elevation  to  1  e 
queen  of  her  people  lay  in  her  wonderful  beamy. 
which  throws  the  king  into  suo'h  an  ecstasy  that 
he  analyzes  it  with  the  utmost  detail  in  order 
that  he  may  adduce  Ihe  finest  objects  of  natuie, 
which  his  realm  aff"ords,  to  set  forth  tier  charms; 
yes,  that  he  represents  one  single  glance  of  lier 
eyes,  one  chain  trom  the  ornamenisof  her  neck 
as  possessed  of  the  power  to  chain  liim  to  her 
completely.  So  also  it  is  the  beauty  and  god-like 
dignity,  originally  belonging  to  human  nature,  ob- 
scured indeed  by  sin,  but  not  completely  and  lor 
ever  destroyed,  which  brought  the  Lord  down  to 
our  earth  and  made  Him  our  Redeemer,  the  royal 
bridegroom  and  loving  husband  of  His  churcii. 
But  there  is  this  difi'erence  between  the  earthly 
Solomon  and  his  celestial  antitype,  that  the  lalur 


III.  6~V.  1. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


\>i 


must  restore  the  partially  destroyed  and  hideously 
distorted  beauty  of  His  beloved  before  He  can 
raise  her  to  sit  with  Him  on  His  throne  ;  He  must 
ill  order  to  effect  this  restoration  endure  the  direst 
sufferings ;  He  must  redeem  the  poor  captive 
from  the  prince  of  this  world  by  the  ransom  of 
His  own  precious  blood  ;  and  afterwards,  too.  He 
must  with  much  trouble  and  pains  seek  to  retain 
her  whom  He  has  dearly  purchased  in  the  way  of 
righteousness  and  trutli  and  preserve  her  from 
falling  back  again  into  the  defilement  of  sin.  The 
heavenly  Solomon  can  never,  during  the  course 
of  this  present  world,  attain  to  a  really  pure  and 
undisturbed  joy  in  His  bride.  He  has  quite  too 
much  to  do  in  cleansing  her  ever  anew  with  the 
washing  of  water  by  the  word  in  order  to  pre- 
sent her  to  Himself  holy  and  without  blemish,  not 
having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing  (Epli. 
V  26,  27).  The  heavenly  bridegroom  of  souls 
can  neither  sing  to  His  church  as  a  whole,  nor  to 
its  individual  members  such  a  praise  of  her 
beauty  as  was  sung  by  Shulamith's  husband, 
culminating  in  the  encomium,  "Thou  art  all 
fair,  my  dear,  and  tliere  is  not  a  blemish  in 
thee,''  iv.  7.  He  has,  on  the  contrary,  but 
too  abundant  occasion  to  speak  to  her  in  the 
tone  adopted  in  the  16th  chapter  of  tbe  prophet 
Eaekiel.  He  must  too  often  hold  up  before 
her  not  only  the  wretcliedness  of  her  birth  and 
tlie  misery  of  the  first  days  of  her  cliildliood,  but 
also  the  gross  unfaithfulness  and  scandalous  de- 
filement of  Ibe  flesb  and  spirit,  of  which,  tliough 
His  elect  and  His  beloved,  she  has  since  made  her- 
self guilty.  And  He  must  all  the  more  postpone 
hsr  entrance  upon  the  full  enjoyment  of  His 
blessed  society  and  His  heavenly  benefits  until  the 
future  state,  for  the  reason  that  she  is  previously 
lacking  in  many  respects  in  another  virtue  which 
lA  most  of  all  commended  in  Shulamith,  her  his- 
torical type.     This  is: 

c.  The  chaste  and  humble  mind,  which  the  be- 
loved of  the  earthly  Solomon  still  preserved  even 
after  her  elevation  to  regal  dignity  and  glory, 
tiiat  child-like,  pure  and  obedient  heart  whicli 
she  brings  to  her  husband,  and  in  virtue  of  which 
she  will  belong  only  to  him  and  offer  the  sweet- 
scented  flowers  and  deliglitful  fruit  of  her  garden 
to  him  for  hi»   exclusive   enjoyment.      On  the 


ground  of  this  most  sterling  of  all  the  qualities  of 
his  beloved,  this  crown  of  her  virtues,  Solomon 
celebrates  on  the  very  day  of  his  marriage,  his 
perfect  union  with  her  ;  the  locked  garden,  the 
bolted  and  sealed  fountain  is  opened  to  him  for 
his  comfort  and  refreshment. — The  Church,  as  the 
bride  of  the  Lord,  remains  a  mere  bride  so  long 
as  she  has  to  suffer  and  to  fight  here  below,  be- 
cause she  does  not  remain  a  locked  garden  and  a 
sealed  fountain,  to  the  extent  that  this  could  be 
affirmed  of  her  Old  Testament  type;  because,  on 
the  contrary,  she  too  often  admits  tbe  seductive 
and  defiling  powers  of  sin  and  of  the  world  to  the 
sanctuary  of  her  virginity,  and  allows  them  to 
desecrate  the  temple  of  her  heart.  Not  until  the 
end  of  days  will  her  perfect  union  with  the  heav- 
enly bridegroom  be  consummated,  when  she  has 
suffered  and  contended  to  the  full,  and  the  great 
mystery,  of  which  Paul  writes,  Eph.  v.  32,  has 
been  fulfilled  by  the  final  and  visible  coming  of 
her  beloved.  Until  then  it  is  only  individual 
souls  in  the  midst  of  her,  that  band  of  His  faithful 
and  elect,  who  are  truly  known  to  the  Lord  alone 
(2  Tim.  ii.  19;  Rom.  viii.  28  ff. ),  whom  He  raises 
to  the  blessed  height  of  a  most  intimate  commu- 
nion with  Himself,  and  by  the  outpouring  of  His 
love  in  their  hearts  makes  them  partakers  of  the 
full  blessings  of  His  heavenly  grace.  This  is  that 
invisible  communion  of  saints,  which,  as  the  true 
salt  of  the  earth  and  light  of  the  world,  forms  the 
real  eoul  of  Christendom,  the  genuine  realization 
of  the  idea  of  the  Church;  which,  as  the  true 
Bride  of  the  Lamb,  day  by  day  with  longinghearts 
unites  in  the  supplication  of  the  Spirit :  "  Come, 
Lord  Jesus,"  Rev.  xxii.  17  ;  which,  as  the  entire 
body  of  the  wise  virgins  (Matth.  xxv.  10)  with 
loins  girded  and  lamps  burning  (Luke  xii.  35) 
waits  and  watches  until  He  comes  "that  is  holy 
and  that  is  true,  that  openeth  and  no  man  shut- 
tetli;  and  sbuttelh  and  no  man  openeth"  (Rev. 
iii.  7) :  which  shall  therefore  one  day  in  glorious 
reality  and  with  never-ending  joy  experience  tho 
fulfilment  of  that  desire  which  b;da  them  sigh  and 
cry  here  below: 

Oh  I  come,  do  come,  Ttiou  Sun, 
And  bring  us  every  one 
To  eodle^B  joy  and  Hi;fat, 
Thy  hallA  of  pure  d»light. 


94  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  V.  2— VIII.  4. 


FOURTH  SONG. 

Shulamith'e  longing  for  her  home  again  awakened. 

Chap.  V.  2— VIII.  4. 

FIRST    SCENE: 

Shulamith  akd  the  Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

(Chap.  V.  2— VI.  3.) 

Shulamith  (relating  a  dream). 

2  r  was  sleeping,  but  my  heart  was  waking' — 

Hark !'  my  beloved  is  knocking : 
'  Open*  to  me,  my  sister, 
my  dear,  my  dove,  my  perfect  f 
for*  my  head  is  filled  with  dew, 
my  locks  with  drops  of  the  night !' 

3  "I'  have  taken  off  my  dress, 

how  shall  I  put  it  on  ? 
I  have  washed  my  feet, 
how*  shall  I  soil  them?" — 

4  My'  beloved  extended  his  hand  through  the  window," 

and  I  was  inwardly  excited"  for  him. 

5  Up  I  rose  to  open  to  my  beloved, 

and  my  hands  dropped  with  myrrh, 
and  my  fingers  with  liquid  myrrh, 
upon  the  handle  of  the  bolt. 

6  I  opened  to  my  beloved, 

and  my  beloved  had  turned"  away,  was  gone ; 

a?EXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  rWicL.,  Mat.  :  Tne  voice  of  the  Church."! 

2  The  unmistakably  close  connection  of  thfise  words  with  what  follows  "  Hark  !  my  beloved  knocking!"  gives  to  both  the 
participles  njti'^  an'i  "IJ?  the  sense  of  imperfects.  Hitzig  correctly  says:  "The  connection  makes  the  two  partic.  as  well  as 
pSil  express  the  relative  past  (comp.  Jer.  xxxviii.  26 ;  Ex.  v.  8) ;  and  this  first  part  of  the  verse  is  therefore=^D*l7n3  Gen. 

xli.  17." 

3  Lit.  "The  sound  of  my  beloved  knocking,"  (U.    Comp.  ii.  8.    p3n  is  nor  in  apposition  to  'Hn,  but  the  predic^tte, 

and  for  this  reason  is  without  the  article ;  comp.  Gen.  iii.  8  [see  Green's  CItrestom.,  p.  9.>,  on  this  passage].  Hitzio  correctly  : 
"  Sip  is  just  the  knocking,  and  is  known  to  be  mil    7lp  by  the  accompanying  words." 

<  [Mat.  :    Christ  to  the  Church.) 

6  [Cov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bish.:  darling.    Genev.,  Eno.  Ver.:  undefiled.] 

c  -ly  before  ^t^X^  assigns  the  reason  as  ■^tJ'N  Eccles.  vi.  12,  or  as  *3  Cant.  ii.  11. 

1  [Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  spousess.] 

8  The  prolonged  form  n33^X  instead  of  1!''X  or  H^^i^  serves  to  make  the  question  more  emphatic,  like  our  "  How  could 

TT     '•  '    "  T    ■• 

I  ....  ?   How  can  you  ask  me  to ?" 

8  [Mat.  :   The  voice  of  the  Church  Hpcakiiifj  of  Christ.] 
10    Wicl.,Mat.:  hole.    Genev..  Km;.  \'[-;i:.:  hole  of  the  door.] 

"    Grnev.  :    Mine  heart  was  affectinrird  toward  him.     Marg.  as  Eno.  Ver.:  my  liowels  were  moved.] 
'"  ion  cognate  with  pJP  "  to  embriu:e  "  is  suhstitntially  synonymous  with  32D  "  to  turn ;"  comp.  the  Ilith.  in  the  sen.^e 

of  "  turning  and  forsaking,"  Jer.  xxxi.  22,  as  well  as  the  sub.stantive  D^p-'^H  "  th;»t  which  is  turned  or  rounded,"  vii.  2  lie- 
low.  "  He  ha/1  turned  away  "  is  now  strengthened  by  adding  the  synonyine  13  J^  t"  *'.\preBS  his  total  dLsappeanince.  Stmma- 
CHus  correctly  :  airoceiio-as  airrjKdi,  and  still  better  the  Vulg.:  "  at  ilk  decUnaoerat  atqut  tramierat ;"  for  the  pluperfect  sense 
of  the  verbs  is  demanded  by  the  context. 


V.  2— VIII.  4.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  ^ 


my  soul  failed,'  when  he  spoke  f 
I  sought  him  but  I  did  not  find  him, 
I  called  him  but  he  answered  me  not. 

7  Found''  me  then  the  watchmen,  who  go  around  in  the  city ; 

they  struck  me,  wounded  me, 
took  my  veil*  ofi'  from  me, 
the  watchmen  of  the  walls. 

8  I'  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

if  ye  find  ray  beloved — 

what  shall  ye  tell  him  ? 

"  that  I  am  sick  of  love." 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

9  What*  is  thy  beloved  more  than  (any  other)  beloved,' 

thou  fairest  among  women  ? 
What  is  thy  beloved  more  than  (any  other)  beloved, 
that  thou  dost  adjure  us  thus? 

Shulamith. 

10  My"  beloved  is  white  and  ruddy, 

distinguished  above  ten  thousand. 

11  His  head  is  pure  gold, 

his  locks  are  hill  upon  hill,' 
black  as  a  raven.'" 

12  His  eyes  like  doves  by  brooks  of  water, 

bathmg  in  milk,  sitting  on  fulness." 

13  His  cheeks  like  a  bed  of  balm, 

towers  of  spice  plants  •" 
his  lips  lilies, 
dropping  liquid  myrrh. 

14  His  hands  golden  rods, 

encased  in  turquoises ;" 
his  body  a  figure  of  ivory, 
veiled  with  sapphires. 

1  Oomp.  Gen.  xlii.  8 :  37   X^^.      [Cov.,  Mat.:  Now  like  as  aforetime,  when  he  spake,  my  heart  could  not  refrain. 

TT 

WicL..  Dow.:  melted.    BoRROWES :  sunk  in  consequence  of  what  he  had  said.    Notes,  better :  T  was  not  in  my  senses  while 
he  spake.] 

2  Others  read  instead  of  11313,  1*1313  and  either  explain  this  from  the  Arabic  as  equivalent  to  113^3  "at  his  going 

:   - :  ;   t:  :  t  : 

away,  at  his  departure"  (Ew.,  etc.)  or  (comparing  the  Arab.  dai>ra-=*lnN  "behind  him,"  (HiTZ.)  with  which  Umbreit*8 

reference  of  11313  to  a  verb  13T  "to  follow"  ("I  went  out  to  follow  him")  substantially  agrees.    But  all  these  exi)laita- 

tions,  as  well  us  that  of  Weissbach,  according  to  which  we  should  read  11313  "on  his  account,  for  his  sake,"  lack  the  requi- 

T  :  ■ 
eite  confirmation  in  point  of  language. 

3  [Mat.:   The  Church  complaineth  of  her  persecutors.] 

*  [WiCL.:  mantle.    Cov.,  MiT.:  garment.    Cr\n.,  Bish.:  kerchief.     Dow.:  cloak.] 

5  I  Mat.:  The  spousess  speaketh  to  her  companions.] 

«  [WiCL.:  The  voice  of  friends  saith  to  the  Church.  Which  is  thy  lemman  (loverj  of  the  loved?  Mat.:  The  voice  of  the 
Synagogue.    Who  is  thy  love  above  other  lovers — or  what  can  thy  love  do  more  than  other  loves?] 

'  mo  beyond  any  one  who  is  a  beloved,  i.  e.,  more  excellent  than  any  other.  HI  here  simply  states  the  idea  in  a  ge- 
neral form,  and  ?0  is  comparative,  expressing  the  superiority  of  one  thing  above  another,  as  in  10  b. 

8  fWicL.:  The  voice  of  the  Church  of  Christ  saith  to  the  friends.    M\t.:  The  Church  answering  of  Christ.] 

9  fWlCL.:  as  bunches  of  palms.  Dow.:  aa  the  branches  of  palm  trees.  Genev.:  curled.  Enq.  Ver.:  bushy.  Thedpp  in 
imitation  of  the  reduplicated  form  in  Hebrew:  flow  flowingly.] 

w  [Cov.,  Mat.:  brown  as  the  evening.] 

"  [Cov.,  Mat.:  remaining  in  a  plenteous  place.  Cr\n.,  Bisit.:  set  like  pearls  in  gold.  Genev.:  remain  by  the  full  vessels. 
Dow.:  sit  beside  the  most  full  streams.  Eno.  Ver.:  fitly  set ;  Marg.:  sitting  in  fullness,  that  is,  fitly  placed  and  set  as  a  pre- 
cious stone  in  the  foil  of  a  ring.] 

12  [Cov.,  Mat.,  CR-AN.,  Bish.:  His  cheeks  are  like  a  garden  bed  wherein  the  apothecaries  plant  all  manner  of  sweet 
things.] 

l»  [Cov.,  M  VT.:  His  hands  are  full  of  gold  rings  and  precious  stones ;  his  body  is  like  the  pure  ivory,  decked  over  with 
sapphires.  Cran.,  Bish.:  his  hands  are  like  gold  rings  having  enclosed  the  pleasant  stone  of  Tharsis.  Dow.:  his  hands 
wrought  round  of  gold,  full  of  hyacinths.    Ge.nev.:  his  hands  as  rings  of  gold  set  with  the  chrysolite.] 


9«  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  V.  i— V^lII,  4 

15  His  legs  columns  of  white  marble 

set  on  bases  of  pure  gold  ; 
his  aspect  like  Lebanon, 
choice'  as  the  cedars. 

16  His  palate"  is  sweets,' 

and  he  is  altogether  precious/ 

This  is  my  beloved,  and  this*  my  friend, 

ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

VI.  1  Whithef*  has  thy  beloved  gone, 
thou  fairest  among  women  ? 
whither  has  thy  beloved  turned, 
that  we  may  seek  him  with  thee  ? 

Shulamith 

2  My'  beloved  has  gone  down  to  his  garden, 

to  the  beds  of  balm*, 
to  feed'  in  the  gardens 
and  to  gather  lilies." 

3  I  am  my  beloved's  and  my  beloved  is  mine, 

who  feeds  among  the  lilies. 


second  scene: 
Solomon  to  the  same  as  before. 

(Chap.  VI.  4.— VII.  6.) 

Solomon. 

4  Fair"  art  thou,  my  dear,  as  Tirzah, 

comely  as  Jerusalem,  terrible'^  as  bannered"  hosts, 

*  l^nS  "  chosen,  excellent "  (not  "  young  man,"  as  Targ.,  Magn.,  Ew.,  Bottch.  have  it)  is  evidently  intended  to  indicate 
the  pre-emSience  of  the  cedars  ahove  all  other  trees,  their  surpassing  height  and  stately  form.  Comp.  7?JT  ver.  10  above, 
which  is  substantially  synonymous,  as  well  as  the  expressions  D'PX  "inOD  Jer.  xxii.  7,  and  D'tyiS  "'iri3D  (together 
with  D'PX  nOlp)  2  Kings  six.  23.  This  word  moreover  belongs  to  ^n8<"lD  as  its  predicate  ;  for  it  is  too  remote  to  refer 
it  to  the  sufflx  attached  to  this  word,  or  to  a  new  subject  derived  from  it  (Hitz.). 

2  [Gov.,  Max.,  Dow.:  his  throat.  Cban.,  Bish.:  the  words  of  his  mouth.  Genet.,  Eng.  Ver.:  his  mouth ;  Marg.; 
palate.] 

>  On  the  plur.  D^pHOD  " sweetnesses  "  see  Bw.  i«Arii.  §179,  a  [Green's  Hib.  Oi-am.  §201, 1,  aandc]. 

*  D'lOnO  lit.  "  preciousneases,  desirable  things ;"  comp.  Joel  iv.  5 ;  Hos.  ix.  16 ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  19. 

s  On  the  repeated  HT  comp.  Gen.  ill.  15. 

«  fWicl..:  The  voice  of  holy  souls,  of  the  church.    Mat.  :  The  voice  of  the  synagogue  speaking  to  the  church.] 

^  [WicL..  Mat.  :  The  voice  of  the  church. J 

»  In  regard  to  Dtya  HUIIJ?  comp.  on  v.  13  above. 

*  [Gov.,  Mat.,  Cran.,  Bisb.  :  that  he  may  refresh  himself.] 

10  [Thbupp  :  Note  in  the  Hebrew  of  this  verse  not  only  the  rhyme  between  B'3J3  and  WOVO,  but  also  the  resemblance 

ill  sound  between  niJllyS    and  m;rl'7.  Gov.,  Mat.  :  flowers.     Cr.in.:  roses.] 

»  rwici..  Mat.:  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.  Win,.:  Fair  thou  art,  my  love,  sweet  and  fair  as  Jerusalem.  Gov., 
Mat.  :  Thou  art  pleasant,  O  my  love,  even  as  loveliness  itself;  thou  art  fair  aa  Jerusalem,  glorious  as  an  army  of  men  with 
their  banners.! 

'2  [Good,  Percy,  Taylor,  Thropp;  dazzling.] 

1^  nlS^JJ  lit.,  provided  with  a  jy\  banner,  gathered  about  a  standard  (comp.  Num.  i.  52;  ii.  2;  Ps.  ix.  6);  not, 
"iliatinguisheil,  select,"  as  Weissb.  misled  by  the  affinity  between  this  expression  and  71 J1  v.  10  supposes.  The  fem. 
mSlJO  18  not  to  be  explained  by  a  n'ljnn  understood  (Ibn  Ezra),  but  it  "expresses  the  idea  of  a  collective,  as  in  nTT^jt 

and  nSu"  (Hitz.). 


V    2— VTII.  4.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


5  Turn  away  thine  eyes  from'  me, 

for  they  have  taken  me  by  storm.' 
Thy  hair  is  as  a  flock  of  goats, 
reposing  on  Gilead. 

6  Thy  teeth  as  a  flock  of  sheep. ^ 

that  go  up  from  the  washing, 

all  of  which  have  twins, 

and  there  is  not  a  bereaved  one  among  them. 

7  Like  a  piece  of  pomegranate  thy  cheek 

from  behind  thy  veil. — 

8  There  are  sixty  queens 

and  eighty  concubines 

and  virffins  without  number. 

9  My  dove,  my  perfect  is  one,* 

the  only  one"*  of  her  mother, 
the  choice**  one  of  her  that  bare  her. 
Daughters  saw  her  and  called  her  blessed, 
queens  and  concubines  and  they  praised  her : 
10  "  Who^  is  this,  that  looks  forth  like  the  dawn, 
fair  as  the  moon,  pure  as  the  sun, 
terrible  as  bannered  hosts  ?"® 


Shdlamith. 

11  To'  the  nut'°  garden  I  went  down, 

to  look  at  the  shrubs  of  the  valley, 
to  see  whether  the  vine  sprouted, 
the  pomegranates  blossomed. 

1  "Weissb.  preposterously:  ^'IJST'  TVJ^  ^3071  ia  equivalent  to  "turn  thine  eyes  away  from  thee  to  me,"  and  then  th« 

only  suitable  sense  in  the  second  claL*^  must  be  "thine  eyes  encourage  rae."   [So  Thrupp  :    ^JilO  "opposite,  over-against." 

The  full  meaning  is  "  Thou  ■\vlio  art  standing  over  against  ni'',  bend  thou  thine  eyes  so  as  directly  to  meet  mine."]  Against  this 
excessively  artiticial  and  over-retiuod  interpretation  of  1JJ0  one  single  parallel  is  decisive,  lsa.i.  Iti;  ^yv  TJilO  —  ^T^OH 

'■  put  away — from  before  mine  eyes." 

2  The  Hiph.  3'nTn  from  JDHT  '*  to  rago.  be  violent,"  most  probably  expresses  a  sense  corresponding  to  the  predicate 
nrS^X.  consequently  not  "to  encourage,  inspire  courage,"  as  In  Ps.  cxxxviii.  3,  but  "to  assault,  violently  excite,  take  by 

storm."  fCov.,  Mat.:  make  me  too  proud.  Cran.,  Rish.:  have  set  me  on  fire.  Dow.:  make  me  flee  away.  Eng.  Ver.:  over- 
euni'i  nie;  Miirg.:  puff-d  me  up.     Thrupp:  swell  my  heart  with  pride.] 

3  Vi^rbaily  corresponding  with   iv.  2,  except  in  the  more  special  riU^Ypn  "shorn  "  instead  of  the  more  general  ex- 

preasiou  C  /fT^n  "  lambs  "  used  here,    [This  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  Arabic,  but  in  Heb.  it  means  "  ewes,  sheep."] 
■   ■■   :  T 

*  Th-^   num-'ral  HHi^  one,  forming  a  marked  contrast  with  the  sixty,  eighty,  etc.,  receives  its  proper  limitation  from  tha 

add«'J  KTI:  one  she,  i.  e.,  she  only.    [It  is  better  to  regard  S<T1  as  the  copula  like  'H'^'H  in  ver.  8.  Green's  Heb.  Gram. 

T  ■• 

g  2ri8,  2],    That  ^nnX  "my  sister"  which  stands  with  ^n^DH  TIJV  "my  dove,  my  perfect"  in  the  parallel  passage  v.  2, 

**:  ■  T   "       "  T 

can  have  influenced  the  selection  of  nHK  "one"  in  this  place,  is  very  improbable  (vs.  Weissb.). 

*  N'n  nnX  cannot  be  t^ikenhere  otherwisa  than  it  was  before;  the  predicate  ia.  therefore,  wanting  after  this  expres- 
sion, as  well  as  after  the  parallel  MTI  JT^jJi  "-nd  hence  the  predicate  of  the  preceding  clause,  vU :  "  my  dove,  my  perfect " 

T   T 

must  be  supplied  here  again.  Th'^  inpiinin<;  therefore  is  "only  one,  she  aloup  is  my  dovp,  my  darling:  she  alone  of  her 
mother  (i.  -■.  h^r  only  daught.uM.  slie;t3  sspiraLed  or  chosen  of  her  that  bare  her. '  S41  correctly  Weis^ii.  in  oppoaition  to 
UrTz.  who  takes  nnX  the  second  time  as  tJiB  predicate  and  XT!  J*^  subject:  "she  is  the  only  one  of  her  mother." 

■  On    rr^S  electa  (Tulg.)  from  *^'^2  ''to  separate, '*  comp.  Ezek.  xx.  38;  Jer.  xxiii.  28.    [Thrcpp:  For  the  same  reason 

TT 

that  'HDH  lit.,  "my  perfect  one'*  may  be  rendered  "my  own  one"'  may  TT^D-  'it.  "pure  one"  be  rendered  "sole  darling." 
Siie  in  her  parent's  "  pure  one  " ;  and  this  would  in  fact  be  the  best  rendering,  had  not  the  word  "  pure  "  in  its  original  sense 
b^norae  somewhat  antiquated.] 

T  [Mat.  :  The  voice  of  the  Synagogue.  WiCL. :  Who  ia  she,  this  that  goeth  forth  aa  the  morrow  tide,  rising  fair  as  the  moon, 
.  ti.jsenaa  the  sun?     Cov.,  Mat,:  Who  is  she.  this  that  peepeth  out  as  the  morning?  fair  as  the  moon,  excellent  as  the  sun.] 

9  [tJoOD,  Moody  Stuart  and  others:  dazzling  as  the  stars.] 

*  (WicL.:  The  voice  of  the  church,  of  the  synagogue.  Mat.  :  Christ  to  the  synagogue.  Cov.,  Mat.,  Cras.  :  I  went  down 
into  the  nut-garden  to  see  wliat  grew  by  the  brooks,  and  to  look  if  the  vineyard  flourished  and  if  the  pomegranates  were  shot 
forth.] 

I**  [Caatell.,  Parkhurst:  pruned  garden  as  if  TUX  were  from  ITJ-    Thrupp  without  authority  proposes  to  aubatitutis 

36 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  V.  2— Vin.  4. 


12  I'  knew  it  not,  my  desire  brought  me 

to  the  chariots  of  my  people,  the  noble. 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 

VII.  1  Come'  back,  come  back,  Shulamith, 

Come  back,  come  back,  that  we  may  look  upon  thee. 

Shulamith. 
What'  do  you  see  in  Shulamith  ? 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem. 
As  the  dance  of  Mahanaim. 

SOLOMOS. 

2  How*  beautiful  are  thy  steps  in  the  shoes,  O  prince's  daughter, 

thy  rounded*  thighs  are  like  jewels, 

the  work  of  an  artist's  hands. 
8  Thy  navel  is  a  round  bowl,^ 

let  not  mixed  wine  be  lacking!' 

thy  body  is  a  heap  of  wheat, 

set*  around  with  lilies. 

4  Thy  two  breasts  are  like  two  fawns, 

twins  of  a  gazelle. 

5  Thy  neck  like  a  tower  of  ivory, 

thy  eyes  like  pools  in  Heshbon 
at  the  gate  of  the  daughter  of  multitudea ; 
thy  nose  like  the  tower  of  Lebanon 
which  looks  toward  Damascus. 

6  Thy  head  upon  thee  like  Carmel,' 

and  thy  flowing  locks  like  purple — 
a  king  fettered  by  curls !'° 

'  [Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  Bynagogme.  Gov.,  M\T. :  Then  the  chariots  of  the  prince  of  my  people  made  me  ewddenly 
afraid.  Cran.,  Bish.  :  I  knew  not  that  my  eoul  liad  made  me  the  chariot  of  the  people  that  be  under  tribute.  Dow.:  My 
Boul  troubled  me  for  the  chariots  of  Amin-adab.  Genev.  :  I  knew  nothing,  my  soul  set  me  as  the  chariots  of  my  noble  p»-viple. 
Eng.Ver.  :  M.v  soul  made  me  like  the  chariots  of  Ammi-nadib ;  Marg.:  Set  me  on  the  chariots  of  my  willing  people.  Thrupp  : 
"All  translations  which  introduce  a  preposition  before  'the  chariots' — 'on,'  'to,*  'among,'  'on  accoUTit  of,'  etc.,  are 
grammatically  untenable."    He  renders:  my  soul  had  made  me  the  chariots  of  my  people  the  Freewilling.]    'JJl'DC'    ^2^3  J 

limits  the  meaning  of  the  preceding  'j^J?T  X*?,  though  there  is  no  necessity  of  supplying  O-    The  relation  is  rather  such 

•  :  ~  T 
that  the  preceding  principal  claus'^  is  logic:illy  subordinated  to  the  limiting  and  explanatory  clause  annexed  to  it,  and  thus 
yields  some  such  sense  as  "  without  my  knowing  it,  unawares  my  desire,  etc  ;"  comp.  Job  ix.  5,  Isa.  slvii.  11  as  well  as  Hirz. 
and  Hengstend.  in  loc.    "'lyD  1 — wliich  can  neither  be  the  object,  nor  in  apposition  with  the  subject  of  'n_J,*T  — might  it  is 

true,  h.ive  the  sense  of  "I  myself  "  (comp.  Ho3.  ix.  4;  Job  ix.  21 ;  Ps.  iii.  3,  «/c.),  but  as  the  subject  of  the  verb  'JJTDE!'  ob- 

•   :  -  T 
tains  the  sense  of  "desire,  longing,"  which  is  attested  by  Gen.  xxiii.  8:  Job  xxiii.  13;  2  Kin.  ix.  l.'i,  e/c. 

2[WlCL. :  The  voice  of  the  church  to  the  faith  of  the  neophyte.  Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  church  calling  again  the  syna- 
gogue.] 

3  fWicL. :  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  chnrch,  of  the  synagogue.  Mat.:  Christ  to  the  synagogue.  What  pleasure  have 
ye  more  in  the  Shulamite  than  when  she  dancetb  among  the  men  of  war?] 

*  |WlCL.,  Mat.:  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.     M\T.:  O  how  pleasant  are  thy  treadings  with  thy  shoes. 
5  For    O'Dl^n  and  its  root  pOP]  turn,  revolve,  see  on  v.  G,  and  for  Q''^'^^  thighs,  on  v.  1,'i. 

*  [Thrupp:  Note  the  homceopbony  in  the  Hebrew.]  inDH  ?J1X  "bowl  of  roundness"  is  of  coutge  equivalent  to 
"  round  bowl,"  see  EWAin,  g  287  f.  [Green's  Beb.  Gram,  g  254,  6,  a]  Tlie  root  *inD»  as  appears  from  the  Samaritan,  is  synony- 
mous with  "inD  "  *o  go  round,  surround  ; "  comp.  on  the  one  hand  H'^HD  "  shield,"  Ps.  xci.  14,  and  on  the  other  hand  "^rlD 

T   ■■  — 

castle,  fortress,  tower;  also  flint!'  "little  moon,"  and  the  Talmudic  "IHD  wall,  fence. 

7  [Wick.:  Never  needing  drink.  Con.,  Mat.:  which  is  never  without  drink.  Dow.:  Never  wanting  cups.  E.  V.;  which 
wanteth  not  liquor.J 

*  njlD  Aramieism  for  nj^ty;  literally  "hedged  in  lilies." 

T  T 

5  [Gevrv.  :  scarlet.    Eng.  Ver.  Marg.:  crimson.] 

10  D'pni  elsewhere  "  channels,  w:iter-trouglis  "  are  here  manifestly  the  flowing  ringlets  or  locks  of  her  hair,  comp.  the 

Lat.  crma  fluens.  fCov..  Mat.:  like  the  kings  pun>le  folden  up  in  plates.  Cran.:  like  purple  .and  like  a  king  goin'  fortn 
with  his  guanls  about  him.  Dow.:  a<i  a  king's  purple  tied  to  water-pipes,  Genev.:  the  king  is  tied  in  the  r.uVers:  »-"ith  tbu 
marginal  note  "  he  delighteth  to  come  near  thee  anrl  to  be  in  thy  company."  Evg.  Ver.  :  the  king  is  held  in  the  g:tll  cries. 
Wordsworth  :  the  king  is  bound  or  tied  at  the  water-troughs,  i.  e.  dispenses  grace  through  the  ippointad  channels.  / 


V.  2— VIII.  4.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  M 


THIRD   SCENE: 

Solomon  and  Shulamith  (alone). 
(Chap.  VII.  7.— VIII.  4.) 

Solomon. 

7  How  fair  art  thou  and  how  comely, 

O  love,'  among  delights  !^ 

8  This  thy  stature  resembles  a  palm  tree, 

and  thy  breasts  clusters.' 

9  I'  resolve  :  I  will  climb  the  palm, 

will  grasp  its  branches,' 

and*  be  thy  breasts,  please,  like  clusters  of  the  vine, 

and  the  breath  of  thy  nose'  like  apples, 

10  And  thy  palate*  like  the  best  wine 

Shulamith  (interrupting  him). 

—going'  down  for  my  beloved  smoothly,'" 
gliding  over  the  lips  of  sleepers. 

11  I  am  my  beloved's, 

and  for"  me  is  his  desire. 

12  Come,''  my  beloved,  let  us  go  out  to  the  country,'* 

lodge  in  the  villages, 

13  Start  early'*  for  the  vineyards ; 

we  shall  see  whether  the  vine  has  sprouted, 

its  blossoms  opened,'* 

the  pomegranates  flowered  .... 

there  will  I  give  thee  my  love." 

'  rWiCL. ;  Thou  most  dearworth.    Gov..  M\t,  :  my  darling.    Gesev.  :  O  my  love.] 

2  [Thrdpp,  who  is  (luite  too  fond  of  ingenious  emendations :  "  O  daughter  of  allurements.  We  may  follow  the  Stkiac  and 
Aqoila  in  dividing  the  D^JJ-'riD  '*f  our  Hebrew  text  into  the  two  words  D'JJL*   n3.'"] 
8  [Gov.,  Mat.  :  like  the  grapes.] 

*  WicL. :  Christ  of  the  holy  cross  saith.    Mat.  :  The  spouse  speaking  of  the  cross.] 
!■    WlCL.,  Dow. :  fruits.] 

*  WlCL. :  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  church.     Mat.  :  The  spouse  to  the  spousess.] 

'  [WlCL. :  The  smell  of  thy  mouth.  Dow. :  odor  of  thy  mouth.  Gov.,  M.AT. :  the  smell  of  thy  nostrils.  Genev.  :  the 
Bjivor  of  thy  nose.] 

8  [WicL.,  Gov.,  Mat.,  Dow.:  throat.    Gran.  :  jaws.    BlSH.,  Genev..  Eng.  Ver.:  the  roof  of  thy  mouth.] 

9  [WiCL. ;  The  church  saith  of  Christ, — worthy  to  my  love  to  drink,  to  the  lips  and  to, the  teeth  of  him  to  chew.  Gov., 
Mat.  :  this  shall  be  pure  and  clear  for  my  love ;  his  lips  and  teeth  shall  have  their  pleasure.  Gran.  :  which  goeth  straight 
unto  my  beloved  and  bursteth  forth  by  the  lips  of  the  ancient  elders.  Bish.  :  which  is  meet  for  my  best  beloved,  pleasant 
tiirhis  lips  and  for  his  teeth  to  chew.  Genev.  :  which  goeth  stniight  to  my  well-beloved  and  causeth  the  lips  of  the  ancient  to 
speak.  Dow.:  worthy  for  ray  beloved  to  drink  and  for  his  lips  and  his  teeth  to  ruminate.  Eng.  Ver.  :  that  goeth  down 
sweetly  (Marg.  straightly)  causing  the  lips  of  those  that  are  asleep  (Marg.  the  ancient)  to  speak.  Thrupp  :  "  In  so  difficult  a 
pa-ssage  some  variations  of  text  must  be  expected;  and  for  D'Jiy"  TISB'  'the  lips  of  the  sleepers,' the  LXX,  Striac  and 
AljDiLA  apparently  concur  in  l-eading  □''JB'!  T^ilty  'my  lips  and  teeth;'  to  which  reading  the  versions  of  Symmachcs  and 
.Ierome  also  lend  partial  and  indirect  support.  It  has,  however,  the  dissulvantage  of  being  nngrammatical,  the  true  Hebrew 
for  ' my  lips  and  teeth '  being  *Jtyi  ^T^SW-  Moreover,  the  received  text  is  decidedly  upheld  by  the  Taroum,  and  yields  a 
more  appropriate  meaning."] 

'»  On  D'lty'O  7  TjSin  Iit."goingaccordingtoevenness"(inan  even,  smooth  way)comp. the  similar  D"1ty'n3  llSnnn 
Prov.  xxii).  31 ;  also  Isa.  viii.  G. 

"  On  'jU— 'jX  comp.  Prov.  xxix.  5 ;  Ps.  xxxvi.  3.    [WicL. :  I  to  my  love  and  to  me  the  turning  of  him.    Dow. :  I  to 

my  beloved  and  his  turning  is  towards  me   Gov  .  M  \t..  Cran.  :  There  will  I  tnrn  me  unto  my  love,  and  he  shall  turn  him 
unto  me.     Bish.  :  I  am  my  beloved's  and  he  shall  turn  him  unto  me      tiENEV.:  I  am  ray  well-bcluved's  tEsG.  Ver.  ;  beloved's) 

and  his  desire  is  toward  me.  Ginsburg  :  "  It  is  for  me  to  desire  him.   'S^  lit.  on  nw,  i.  e.  it  is  upon  me  as  a  duty,  thus  2  Sam. 

xviii.  11 ;  Prov.  vii.  14  "] 

»2  [  WicL.:  The  voice  of  the  church  to  Christ.  Mat.  :  The  church  speaking  to  Christ.] 

13  On  mtyn  XV  of  going  out  of  the  city  into  the  open  country  comp.  also  1  Sam.  xx.  6. 

■■■  T    -  T  T  . 

1*  "To  Btiirt  early  (□''3U'n)  for  the  vineyards"  i.e.  to  rise  early  and  go  to  them,  a  constr.  prajgnans,  comp.  Ew.  §  282,  c. 

[Green's  Hrh.  Gram.  ?  272,  3.  Wici. :  early  rise  we  to  the  vine.    Gov..  Mat.:  in  the  morning  will  we  rise  betimes  and  go  Be« 
the  vineyard.] 

16  The  Piel  nn3  is  to  be  tiiken  reflexively,  "  opened  themselves  "  (Del.,  Henostenb.,  Meier),  perhaps  also  inchoatively, 

"  whether  they  are  opening,  are  on  the  point  of  bursting"  (Ew.,  Heiligst.,  Vaih.  eic).     For  ^TDD  comp.  on  ii.  13. 

~  T    ; 

1"  On  ""in'riX  TnX  comp.  Prov.  xxix.  lY.  [WicL.  omits.  Gov.,  Mat.,  Chan.  Bisn.,  ray  breasts.] 


iJO  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  V.  2— VliL  4. 

14  The  mandrakes'  give  forth  their  odor, 

and  over  our  doors  are  all  sorts  of  excellent  fruit,' 
new  as  well  as  old, 

(which),  my  beloved,  I  have  laid  up  for  thee.' — 
Viil.  1  O'  that  thou  wert  as  a  brother  of  mine, 

who  sucked  the  breasts  of  my  mother ! 
should  I  find^  thee  without  I  would  kiss  thee, 
yet*  none  would  despise'  me. 

2  I  would  lead  thee,  bring  thee  to  my  mother's  house, 

thou"  wouldst  instruct  me  ; 

I  would  give  thee  to  drink  of  the  spiced  wine, 

of  my  pomegranate  juice. 

3  His  left  hand  is  under  my  head, 

and  his  right  embraces  me.° — 

4  P"  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 

thd.t  ye  wake  not,  and  that  ye  waken  not 
love,  till  it  please. 

*  [WiCL. :  the  mandrakea  give  their  smell  in  our  gates.  All  apples  new  and  old,  my  love,  T  kept  to  thee.  Cov.,  Mat.  : 
there  shiiU  the  mandragoriw  give  their  .smell  beside  our  doors ;  there,  O  in.v  love,  have  I  kept  unto  thee  All  manner  of  fruits 
h<)th  new  and  old.] 

'-t  [Genkv.:  All  sweet  things.] 

3  This  l.i3t  clause  eannot  be  taken  as  an  independent  sentence  (DiiPKE,  Rosenm.,  Hengstbsb.)  for  then  the  verb  would 
have  "new  fruit"  likewise  for  its  object.    "Ityx  must  be  supplied  and  the  resulting  relative  clause  must  only  be  connected 

with  the  last  predicate  D'JtV'  (correctly  Hitz.). 

*  [Wici.,  Mat.:  The  voice  of  the  patriarchs  speaking  of  Christ.  Wici,  :  Who  to  me  giveth  [Dow.  shall  give  to  me]  thee 
my  brother  sucking  the  teats  [Dow.  breasts]  of  my  niotlier,  that  I  fin<l  thee  alone  without  forth  [Dow.  1  may  find  thee  witli- 
<iiit]  and  kiss  thee.     Cov.,  Mat.:   0  that  I  miglit  find  thee  without  and  kiss  thee,  whom  I   love  as  my  brother,  whicli 

ducked  my  mnther's  breasts;  and  tliat  tbouw.iuldst  not  be  oftended  it  1  took  thee  and  brought  thee,  c(c.  Gran.: and  that 

tiiou  sUouhlst  not  be  despised      i  will  lead  tiiee  and  bring  thee,  e/c] 

5  On  the  conditional  clause  without  □«,  and  with  nothing  to  mark  the  apodosis,  comp.  Hos.  viii.l2;  Prov.  xxiv.  10; 

Jtidg.  Hi.  36. 

6  DJ  yet,  nevertheless,  see  Ew.  §  3-il,  a,  [Gesen.  Lex.  in  verb.] 

'  On  n3  see  ver.  7  below,  Prov.  vi.  30.  Instead  of  'S  me  some  inferior  MSS.  read  IjT  tliee,  which  however  seems  far 
less  appropriate,  and  has  doubtless  been  repeated  here  from  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse.  All  the  ancient  versions  read 
■•S .     [Genet.  :  they  should  not  despise  thee ;  Marg.  me]. 

9  [WiCL.,  Dow.,  Oenev.  :  Thou  shalt  teach  me.  Cov.,  Mat.,  Cean.,  Bish.  :  that  thou  mightest  teach  me.  Eso.  Ver.: 
who  would  instruct  me.j  _    , 

■'  This  exclamation  differs  from  that  in  ii.  6,  with  which  in  other  respects  it  agrees  verbatim,  merely  in  the  omission  of 
^7  after  nrijl,  just  as  nnn  stands  alone  also  in  ver.  5  6,  so  likewise  in  Ex.  xxiv.  4;  xMii.  19.  We  have  already  seen  vi.  3; 

iif.  1 ;  vii.  i,  ftc.  that  the  poet  does  not  like  exact  verbal  repetitions  of  formulas  before  used. 

to  [WiCL.,  Mat.:  The  voice  of  Christ.]     Repeated  with  some  freedom  from  ii.  7 ;  iii.  5.     In  place  of  DX  there,  a 

prohibitory  71^  is  introduced  here  (see  Ewald,  g  325,  h,  comp.  also  on  v.  8  above)  [Ainswoeth,  with  more  scrupulous  ad- 
herence to  tlie  form  of  the  Hebrew  expression  ;  why  should  ye  stir,  and  why  should  ye  stir  up  the  love.]  And  by  omitting 
the  gazelles  and  hinds  of  the  field  as  well  as  contracting  '.••jrinii'  !>.'  i»to  one  word  by  means  of  Makkeph,  a  rhythmical 

reduction  of  the  whole  exclamation  to  a  verse  of  but  two  mombere  has  been  attained. 


EXEOETIOAL    AND    CRITICAL. 

1.  The  place  of  the  action  in  this  new  section 
is  without  doubt  the  same  as  in  the  foregoing  act. 
The  dialogue  with  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  (v. 
8,  9,  16;  vi.  1-3;  vii.  1);  the  mention  of  the 
"city"  and  the  "keepers  of  its  walls"  in  this 
fre-sh  recital  of  a  dream  (v.  2-7)  which  reminds 
one  of  its  predece.'<sor  (iii.  1-5);  the  "garden" 
of  Solomon,  to  which  he  has  gone  down,  vi.  2; 
tinally  and  above  all  her  appeal  to  her  lover  to 
go  out  with  her  "to  tlie  country"  (vii.  12)  and 
to  the  house  of  his  cho.sen  one's  mother  (viii.  2), 
and  there  in  the  enjoyment  of  simple  country 
pleasures  to  become  to  her  "as  a  brother  who 
had  .sucljed  the  breasts  of  her  mother"  (viii.  1); 
nil  this  points  to  the   king's  palace  at  .Icriisnloni 


"the  royal  gardens,"  as  is  thought  by  Delitzsch. 
The  room  in  the  palace  on  Zion,  which,  according 
to  scene  2  of  the  foregoing  'act.  was  used  for  the 
marriage  feast,  may  very  well  be  the  one  in  which 
tlie  whole  of  tlie  present  act  was  performed  ;  for 
there  is  no  indication  any  where  of  a  change  of 
scene,  not  even  between  vii.  1  and  2,  or  between 
vers.  6  and  7  of  the  same  chapter  (vs.  Del.). — 
The  time  of  the  action  is  determined  by  its  char- 
acteristic contents  to  have  been  some  days  or 
weeks  later  than  the  wedding  festivities  described 
in  act  third.  For  the  relation  of  love  so  pure  and 
happy  at  the  beginning  has  since  suffered  certain 
checks  and  interruptions,  which  reveal  them- 
selves on  the  part  of  Shulamith  at  least  by  various 
symptoms  of  uneasiness,  nay,  of  sadness  and  de- 
jection, without  her  betraying,  however,  that 
she  has  boon  at  all  wounded   or  actually  injured 


as  the  scene,  and  nioie  probably  to  some  room  in  j  by  her  husband.    The  dream,  which  she  tells  her 
this  palace,   lliaii  lo    "contiguous  grounds"    or  |  eonipnnions  at  the  beginning  of  the  section    that 


V.  2— vm.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMOX. 


101 


ehe  has  very  recently  had  iu  the  night,  begins 
exactly  like  the  preceding,  and  runs  on  partly  iu 
the  same  way.  li  does  not,  however,  end  as  that 
does  in  a  bright  and  joyous  manner,  but  with 
pain  and  fright.  Seukiug  her  beloved  by  night, 
she  not  only  fails  to  find  him — she  is  beaten  and 
robbed  by  the  watchmen!  Her  gloomy  misgiving 
in  respect  to  the  unfaithfulness  of  her  lover,  ex- 
pressed in  her  apprehension  that  she  might  soil 
her  feet  again,  which  had  just  been  washed  (v. 
3,  see  in  loc),  proves  to  be  only  (oo  correct,  and 
drives  her  therefore  with  an  nnxious  and  trou- 
bled heart  to  have  it  said  to  her  lover,  who  has 
actually  forsaken  her  for  a  lime,  "  that  she  is  sick 
of  love" — jf  loving  solicitude  about  his  heart 
partially  averted  and  alienated  from  her  (v.  8) ! 
She  expresses  this  solicitude,  it  is  true,  not  by 
open  complaint;  on  the  contrary,  in  what  follows 
she  sedulously  avoids  dropping  any  thing  to  the 
liisadvantage  of  her  husband  in  the  hearing  of  the 
ladies  of  the  court  (v.  10-16),  she  apologizes  for 
his  leaving  her  by  the  harmless  assumption  that 
he  may  have  gone  "to  feed  in  the  gardens  and  to 
gather  lilies,"  vi.  2,  and  only  in-*erts  in  her  ex- 
clamation at  the  close  an  allusion  indicative  of 
painiul  longing  in  respect  to  the  way  that  she 
wishes  to  be  and  to  remain  her  beloved's,  viz.^ 
that  he  should  now  as  formerly  **  feed  among  the 
lilies,"  that  he  should  be  and  remain  a  guileless, 
pure  and  simple-hearted  country  lover  (vi.  3)! — 
When,  therefore,  Solomon  himself  returns  to  her 
after  a  considerable  absence,  the  manifestations 
of  her  partial  dissatisfaction  with  him  assume  a 
somewhat  altered  forni.  She  regards  him  gravely 
and  sternly,  and  thus  leads  him  in  the  picture  of 
her  beauty  and  loveliness,  which,  full  of  ecstacy, 
he  again  begins  to  sketch  (vi.  4  fF.;  comp.  iv.  1  ff.) 
to  introduce  some  allusions  to  her  **  terribleness  " 
(vi.  4,  10),  as  well  as  to  the  eflfect  of  the  glance 
of  her  eyes  (vi.  5  a),  wiiich  "overcome"  or 
**dismay"  him.  The  spirited  statement  of  the 
prior  rank  accorded  to  her  above  all  his  wives 
and  virgins,  into  which  this  description  finally 
passes  (vi.  8-10),  she  leaves  wholly  unnoticed; 
nay,  she  answers  it  with  a  description  of  what 
she  once  did  and  was  engaged  in,  when  a  simple 
country  maid  in  happier  circumstances,  and  with 
more  agreeable  surroundings  (vi.  11),  and  there- 
upon she  gives  him  plainly  enough  to  understand 
that  the  elevation  bestowed  upon  her  in  conse- 
quence of  her  love  "to  the  state-carriages  of  her 
people,  the  noble,"  i.  e.  to  the  highest  rank 
among  the  nobles  of  her  people,  had  also  led  to 
her  being  painfully  undeceived  (vi.  12).  She 
even  wishes  to  escape  from  the  society  of  the  vo- 
luptuous ladies  of  the  court,  which  has  become 
irksome  to  her,  and  she  is  induced  to  return  and 
remain,  not  so  much  by  their  urgent  entreaties 
and  representations  (vii.  1)  as  simply  and  alone 
by  her  unconquerable  love  to  Solomon,  whom  she 
hopes  finally  to  free  from  his  corrupt  surround- 
ings and  to  gain  wholly  for  herself  and  for  the 
purer  pleasures  of  her  life  at  home. — To  the  new 
and  exagger^jed  laudation  of  her  charms,  in 
which  her  lover  hereupon  indulges  (vii.  2  ff.)  she 
listens  in  silence  ;  as  in  one  place  at  least  they 
offend  against  the  rules  of  modesty  (vii.  3),  she 
deigns  not  to  answer.  Not  until  the  other  ladies 
had  left  her  alone  with  Solomon,  does  she  venture 
to  open  her  heart  to  him  and  to  give  free  expres- 


sion to  her  longing  desire,  which  has  been  most 
strongly  aroused,  to  return  to  her  home  and  to 
have  her  lover  changed  from  a  voluptuous  servant 
of  sin  to  an  innocent  child  of  nature  like  hersell'. 
She  does  this  by  interrupting  (vii.  10)  the  fond 
language  of  her  husband  just  where  it  had  be- 
come most  urgent  and  tender,  and  chiming  in 
with  what  had  been  begun  by  him.  With  exti-a- 
ordinary  address  and  delicacy  she  first,  as  it 
were,  disarms  and  fetters  him  (vii.  10,  11)  and 
then  brings  her  desire  before  him  with  such  over- 
powering force  and  urgency  that  refusal  is  im- 
possible, and  he  is  borne  along  as  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind  by  her  pure  love,  which  triumphs 
thus  over  the  enticements  and  temptations  of  his 
court  (vii.  12  ff.).  He  need  not  utter  a  word  of 
express  consent  to  her  request;  she  has  him  com- 
pletely in  her  power,  and  as  he  has  just  called 
himself  "a  king  fettered  by  her  locks"  (vii.  G), 
she  but  briefly  refers  to  the  fact,  that  his  whole 
desire  is  toward  her  (vii.  116),  that  "his  left 
arm  is  under  her  head,  and  his  right  embraces 
her"  (viii.  3),  and  then  leaves  the  scene  on  the 
arm  of  her  beloved  with  that  exclamation  twice 
before  uttered  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem 
(viii.  4),  and  which  this  time  has  the  force  of 
farewell  advice.* 


*  [That  Solomon  had  givea  ShulHOiith  any  occasioii  for 
disquietuife,  or  that  her  pain  at  his  absence  arose  from  a  ene- 
piciun  ol  tlie  constancy,  wurnith  or  purity  of  hie  affection,  in 
the  nu-rest  figment  without  the  bhudow  of  a  fimndatiun  in 
the  ]iingua;;e  of  the  Song.  Solomon  i^  Slmlamith's  ideal  as 
site  id  Ills.  Sue  does  u.»t  utter  one  word  of  complaint  to  oth- 
ers or  of  reproach  to  him.  There  is  nothing  to  imply  that  m 
her  iuobC  secret  thouglits  she  cen-ures  him  for  an  absfnce 
which  i-i  intolerable  to  her.  Aw  far  as  there  is  any  blame  in 
tlie  case,  slie  casts  it  upon  hiT  own  drowsy  sluggishneee, 
which  f^^rbore  to  open  to  him  promptly  and  grant  him  the 
admission  that  he  sought.  Even  this,  howex-er,  occurring  an 
it  did  in  a  dream,  set-ais  to  be  told  not  so  mucli  in  a  spirit  of 
f  elt-FL'proach  as  to  demonstrate  that  she  was  "sick  of  love." 
Slie  longs  for  her  beloved  every  moment,  and,  Bleeping  or 
waking,  he  is  ever  in  h-rr  thoughts,  and  she  is  uneasy  and 
restlesd  when  he  is  not  by  her  side.  But  hor  confidence  is 
unabated  tiiat  ^he  Is  her  beloved's  and  her  beloved  is  hers, 
vi.  3.  Her  language  respecting  him  is  that  of  affectionate 
admiration,  v.  10,  etc ,  and  his  to  her  is  that  of  the  most  ten- 
der fondness,  vi.4,  etc.  Tliere  has  been  a  brief  separation,  but 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  so  much  as  a  momentary  estrange- 
ment on  her  p.iit  or  on  his. 

The  current  allegorical  interpret-itions  seem  here  to  be  at 
fault  in  one  direction  as  much  as  that  of  Zuckler  errs  in  the 
other.  The  image  of  ideal  love  presented  in  the  Soug  should 
nut  be  nitrred  by  the  untimely  intr  iduction  of  any  thing 
out-ide  of  itself,  whether  the  sins  and  iuconsistencie-ii  of  the 
church  o  ■  of  believing  souls  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  actual 
historic  il  character  ot  Solomon  as  learned  from  King>  and 
Chronicles  on  the  other.  We  are  not  at  liberty  to  put  con- 
straint upon  the  l.inguiige  here  employed  for  the  sake  of 
making  the  bride  mirror  forth  the  deficiencies  of  the  Church 
or  of  preiiprvinsi  the  consistency  of  Solomons  character  as 
lepres  U'ed  here  with  all  that  is  recorded  ot  him  elsewhere. 

'Ihe  bride  mpplies  an  emblem  of  devote'!  attachment  and 
faithful  love,  which  is  to  be  set  helorethe  Church  as  the  ideal 
towards  which  she  should  t*-nii,  and  after  which  she  should 
aspire  and  struggle,  ratiier  than  as  a  picture  which  has  been 
or  is  realized  in  her  a<tuil  life.  It  is  a  bride  luvin;::,  longing 
for,  delighting  in  her  lord,  hut  conscious  of  no  unfaithfuloess 
on  her  part  and  suspecting  none  on  his. 

.And  the  tirid-gioom  is  equally  removed  from  any  charge 
of  inconstancy.  The  military  metaphor  of  vi.  4,  5,  to  which 
ZdcKLER  appeals,  i-*  not  suggestive  of  frowns  or  of  displeasure 
any  more  than  iv.4  or  the  strong  language  of  iv.  9.  It  is  h'-r 
incomparable  charms,  the  batteries  of  beauty  and  of  1o»h 
which  assault  him  with  such  resistless  energy  that  he  pleads 
for  quarter.  Nor  is  there  any  foundation  lor  the  desire  at- 
tribute i  to  Shulamith  to  escape  from  S'domon's  court  or  to 
have  him  fvirstike  it  on  account  of  its  presumed  excesses.  It 
certainly  cannot  be  deduced  from  languajie  which  simply 
expresses  an  exquisite  delight  in  natural  objects,  and  a  wish 
to  enjoy  ilieni  in  the  company  of  her  beloved,  ami  to  posse-'H 
the  opportunity  which  would  thus  be  afforded  for  uniiiter- 
rnpted  and  unrestricted  converse.   The  language  of  the  bride 


■M2 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


2.  The  sketch  here  given  of  the  inner  progress 
of  the  action  in  the  course  of  this  act  departs  in 
several  important  particulars  from  the  view  of 
the  later  interpreters:  but  it  appears  to  us  to  be 
the  only  one  which  corresponds  with  the  lan- 
guage and  the  design  of  the  poet.  It  is  princi- 
pally distinguished  from  the  view  of  Uelitzsch, 
which  approaches  it  most  nearly,  by  its  taking 
the  "little  disturbances"  and  troubles  in  the 
life  of  the  newly  married  pair,  which  this  scholar 
also  affirms,  to  be  more  serious  and  real,  and  not 
restricting  them  for  instance  barely  to  the  tragic 
contents  of  that  story  of  her  dream  (v.  2-7)  but 
letting  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  chaste  bride 
with  the  voluptuous  conduct  of  the  king  and  his 
court  come  properly  forward  as  the  actual  cause 
of  the  clouded  horizon  of  their  married  state. 
Our  view  too  repels  the  assumption  sliared  by 
Delitzsch  with  several  recent  commentators,  but 
destitute  of  proof,  that  the  description  of  Shula- 
mith's  charms  contained  in  vii.  2  if.  was  occa- 
sioned by  a  "country-dance"  which  she  was 
executing  before  him  and  the  ladies  of  the  court, 
— a  hypothesis  dubious  in  every  point  of  view, 
and  upon  which  Shulamith's  character  could 
scarcely  be  freed  from  moral  taint  (for  the  dance 
in  question,  the  "dance  of  .Mahanaim"  can 
scarcely  be  conceived  of  as  other  t  ban  an  unchaste 
pantomime);  and  from  this  it  would  be  but  a 
single  step  to  the  notion  of  Renan  that  Solomon 
in  this  passage  describes  the  charms  of  a  danseuse 
of  the  hnrem,  or  to  the  similar  one  of  Hitzig, 
that  the  king  is  here  "cooing  round  a  concubine." 
Finally  our  view  differs  in  one  point  at  least  from 
that  of  Delitzsch  in  respect  to  the  division  into 
scenes,  inasmuch  as  it  rejects  the  opening  of  a 
new  scene  or  even  act  after  vi.  9  (coinp.  in  loc  , 
as  well  as  the  Introduction,  J  2,  Hem.  2),  and 
consequently  takes  tlie  whole  to  be  one  act  with 
three  scenes,  of  wliich  the  first  extends  to  vi.  3; 
the  second  to  vii.  tj;  and  the  third  from  that  to 
viii.  4.  Against  the  assumption  of  a  point  of  di- 
vision after  vii.  6  it  has  often  indeed  been  urged 
(see  e.  ff.  Ew.,  HiTZ.,  Weissb.,  and  Hengste.nb. 
too)  that  the  passage  vii.  2-10  forms  a  con- 
tinuous description  of  the  beauties  of  the  beloved, 
beginning  witli  her  feet  and  ending  with  her  nose 
and  palate.  But  with  the  more  general  exclama- 
tion vii.  7,  "How  fair  and  how  delightful  art 
thou,  0  Love,  among  the  joys!"  this  description 
evidently  assumes  an  entirely  different  character 
from  that  it  had  before  in  vers.  2-B,  where  the  in- 
dividual members  are  enumerated  very  much 
as  had  been  ilone  previously  (iv.  1-3  and  vi.  .5-7) 
only  in  inverted  order,  and  certain  comparisons 
are  instituted  with  them.  And  what  Shulamith 
says  to  her  lover  (vii.  10  ff.)  in  the  closest  con- 
nection with  the  second  description  (or  rather 
interrupting  it  and  proceeding  of  her  own  mo- 
tion), is  of  such  a  nature  thut  it  can  scarcely  be 
conceived  of  as  spoken  in  the  presence  of  the 
"daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  who  had  been  present 

Tii.  11, 12  iB  entirely  parallel  to  ii.  10-13  in  the  month  of  her 
liver.  And  the  indelicacy  alleged  in  vii.  2  is  not  in  the  pure  lan- 
(raa^e  of  the  son;^.  nor  in  the  chaste  and  beautiful  emt'lems  em- 
tilDVed.  Imt  miiat  l)e  wholly  charged  to  the  account  oltiial-inter- 
|.re'atlo:i.  Commentators  of  what  our  autlior.iustly  terms  the 
profane  erotic  class  have  put  their  own  citfcUHivc  filoanes  upon 
tiiisSong;  and  some  devout  and  evangelical  interpreters  have 
u'lfortunately  made  concessions  which  the  tacts  of  the  case  do 
not  warrant.  I'liero  is  not  the  slightest  taintof  impurity  or  im- 
M-)'i58ty  to  be  found  in  any  portion  of  this  elegant  lyric— Tr.] 


before.  On  which  account  Delitzscu's  assump- 
tion that  a  new  scene  begins  with  vii.  7,  does  not 
in  fact  deserve  so  unceremonious  an  epithet  as 
that  of  "purely  gratuitous,"  which  HiTZio  be- 
stows upon  it.  The  assumption  of  Hitz.,  Bott- 
CHEB,  Ren.  and  Hengstenberg  that  a  new  scene 
does  not  begin  until  vii.  12,  might  with  equal 
propriety  be  denominated  gratuitous;  and  so 
might  many  other  modes  of  division  which  differ 
from  ours,  e.  g.,  that  followed  by  Ew.\lu,  Dopke, 
BOTTCHER,  Hitz.,  Hengstenb.,  etc.,  and  in  gen- 
eral by  most  of  the  recent  writers  according 
to  which  a  new  scene  opens  with  vii.  2;  that  of 
Vaih.  and  others  (particularly  the  older  writers) 
which  begins  this  new  scene  with  vii.  1  ;  the 
assertion  of  Ewald  that  vi.  10 — vii.  1  is  a  dia- 
logue between  the  ladies  of  the  court  and  Shula- 
mith which  is  repeated  by  Solomon,  elc.  The 
question  as  to  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
scenes  in  this  act  moreover  appears  to  be  of 
little  consequence,  inasmuch  as  the  locality  of 
the  action,  as  has  been  before  shown,  does  not 
change.*  The  only  matters  involved  are  1)  an 
entrance  at  vi.  4  of  Solomon,  who  had  not  been 
present  before  and  2)  an  exit  or  retirement  of  the 
chorus  in  the  neighborhood  of  vii.  6,  or  vii.  11. 
And  this  retirement  of  the  chorus  is  furthermore, 
as  is  shown  by  the  epiphonema  viii.  4,  probably 
not  to  be  conceived  of  as  a  total  disappearance 
but  simply  as  a  withdrawal  to  the  background,  as 
toward  the  end  of  Act  first  (see  above,  p.  62). 

3.  Scene  first  a.  Shtlamith's  story  or  heb 
DREAM,  V.  2-8. — This  like  the  similar  passage  iii. 
1-.5  must  be  a  dream,  which  Shulamith  had  had 
shortly  before,  and  which  she  now  relates  as 
indicative  of  the  state  of  her  mind.  In  opposi- 
tion to  the  opinion  that  Shulamith  is  relating  a 
real  outward  occurrence  (Dopke,  Hahn,  Weissb., 
elc.)  maybe  urged  both  the  analogy  of  that  prior 
passage  and  that  sucli  an  affair  is  inconceivable 
in  the  history  of  Solomon's  love  to  Shulamith. 
It  would  have  conflicted  with  decorum  for  that, 
which  is  narrated  in  vs.  2-5,  to  have  actually 
taken  place;  and  for  the  favorite  of  the  king  to 
have  been  beaten  and  robbed  by  the  city  night  watch 
as  is  related  ver.  7,  would  form  tlie  non  plus  ultra 
of  historical  improbability.  Besides  the  vision- 
ary character  of  the  experience  described  u 
indicated  not  only  by  the  introductory  words, 
when  correctly  explained,  "  I  was  sleeping  but 
my  heart  was  waking,"  but  also  by  several 
characteristic  particulars,  as  ver.  3  and  tj. 

Ver.  2.  I  was  sleeping  but  my  heart  was 
making. — Hitzig  adduces  a  striking  parallel  to 
the  ttiouglit.  that  in  a  dream  the  heart  or  spirit 
is  awake,  while  the  rest  of  the  person  sleeps, 
from  Cic.  dc  iliviri.  I.  30:  '■^jacet  corpus  dormienti* 
ut  mortui,  viget  antem  el  vivil  animus.''  Weiss- 
bach's  objections  (p.  211)  to  this  parallel  as  in- 
admissible amount  to  nothing.  Cornp,  F.  SPLITT- 
GERBER.  Schliif  und  Tod,  nebst  dt^n  dnmit  zusam- 
menbnngendcn  Ersckeinungen  des  Seelenlcbens  ( Halle. 
1804),  p.  37  ff.,  espec.  p.  43:  "The  soul  is  still 
in  the  body  during  sleep,  though  freer  from 
it  tlian  in  the  state  of  wakefulness.  It  is  in  a 
conilirion  of  inner  self-collection  and  conceu- 
I  rat  ion  in  order  that  it  may  afterwards   operate 

*  I  The  difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  beginning  and  close 
I  for  these  divisions  suggests  a  doubt  of  their  certainty,  or  at. 
I  least  of  their  impor1:anue. — Tr.] 


V.  U— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


103 


with  the  greater  force  upon  the  course  of  things 
around  it  in  its  particular  sphere  of  life."  And 
p.  71,  "The  soul  sinks  down  in  sleep  to  its  in- 
nermost lite-lieartli,  and  loses  itself  there  in  that 
potential     self-consciousness,    which    forms    the 

proper    essential    quality    of    our  spirits;  

whils'  in  dreams  it  lifts  itself  to  a  comparatively 
higher  region,  that  of  the  dawning  conscious- 
ness, as  it  were,  a  region  which  stands  consid- 
erably nearer  the  surface  of  the  outward  life  aud 
the  daily  consciousness,  which  moves  upon  it,  and 
whose  images  therefore  leave  behind  more  impres- 
sive traces  in  our  memory,  which  extend  into 
our  waking  moments."  Hence  Goschel  not 
incorrectly  remarks;  "If  sleep  is  to  be  con- 
ceived of  as  depression,  (/caracftopa),  dreaming  is 
elevation  (ava<poiid)."  From  this  statement  also 
it  further  appears   why  the  view  maintained  by 

Grot,  and  Dopke,  that  Ij;  '2h^  r\iV'  "JN  denotes 
a  condition  midway  between  sleep  and  wakeful- 
ness, a  semi-sleep,  is  superfluous  ;  an  opinion  by 
the  way,  which  has  the  meaning  of  the  words 
ag.iinsi  it,  for  "I  slept"  is  not  the  same  thing 
as  •' I  was  half  asleep."  The  heart  stands  here 
in  its  customary  0.  Test,  sense  of  the  centre  and 
organ  of  the  entire  life  of  the  soul,  not  barely 
for  the  intellectual  faculties  of  the  soul,  the 
regiou  of  thought,  as  Hitziq  maintains.  Comp. 
further  on  Prov.  ii.  10  (in  this  commentary.)  — 
Hark,  my  beloved  is  knocking:  Open  to 
me,  my  sister,  my  dear,  my  dove,  my  per- 
fect. Compared  with  the  similar  passage  ii.  8 
tliis  fond  quadruple  address  shows  a  considerable 
advance  iu  the  relation  between  the  loving  pair. 
The  predicate  "  my  fair  one,"  which  there  stands 
with  "my  dear"  is  here  wholly  wanting,  and  is 
supplied  by  the  more  intimate  "my  sister," 
which  since  Shulamith's  marriage  had  become 
the  common  pet  name,  by  which  Solomon  called 
her  (see  iv.  9,  10,  12,  v.  1).  He  had  it  is  true  al- 
ready said  "my  dove"  to  her  before  their  nup- 
tials (ii.  14,  comp.  again  vi.  9);  but  "my 
perfect"  is  an  entirely  new  appellation  (comp. 
likewise  again  vi.  9),  which  it  is  likely  was  iirsl 
adopted  after  their  marriage,  and  by  which  Solo- 
mon probably  designed  to  express  her  innocence 
aud  purity  (^371  perfect,  tntegra)  in  contrast 
with  tlie  character  of  his  other  wives,  who  were 
not  so  perfect  and  pure.  For  he  can  scarcely  have 
employed  this  appellation  unmeaningly,  as  "my 
angel"  among  us  [vs.  Dopke  and  Hitz.),  [nor 
ouu  it  mean  as  Thrupp  alleges  "mine  perfectly 
01-  entirely."] — For  my  head  is  filled  with 
dew,  my  locks  with  drops  of  the  night. 
Tiie  copiousness  of  the  nightly  fall  of  dew  in 
Palestine  is  attested  also  by  the  well-known  his- 
tory of  Gideon's  fleece,  Judg.  vi.  38;  comp.  also 
Ps.  ex.  3;  2  Sam.  xvii.  12;  Mic.  v.  6;  Bar.  ii.  25. 
That  Shulamith  sees  her  lover  come  to  her  win- 
dow dripping  with  the  dew  of  the  night,  and 
chilly  too  in  consequence,  migl  t  seem  to  imply 
that  she  thought  of  him  as  a  slieplierd,  who  as 
h))>avh'ji>  "abiding  in  the  field"  (Lukeii.  8)  had 
had  to  endure  wet  and  cold,  and  hence  had  sought 
shelter  in  her  dwelling.  But  to  explain  that 
representation  it  is  sufficient  to  assume  that  the 
tirst  half  of  her  dream  (vers.  2-4)  transports  her 
back  to  her  home,  or  in  other  words  that  now  in 
her  dream,  as  she  bad  done  before  when  awake 


(see  i.  7;  ii.  16;  iv.  6)  she  transfers  her  lover 
without  more  ado  from  the  sphere  of  royalty  to 
that  of  a  shepherd's  life.  That  in  the  latter  half 
of  her  dream  (vers.  6,  7)  she  thinks  of  him  again 
as  living  in  the  city,  and  herself  too  as  wandering 
about  in  the  city  looking  for  him,  is  a  feature  of 
the  most  delicate  psychological  truth,  which  has 
its  analogue  iu  the  story  of  her  previous  dream, 
iii   1-4. 

Ver.  d.  I  have  taken  off  my  dress,  'ilins 
lit.,  "my  tunic,  my  under  garment."  She  here 
too  thinks  lierself  back  again  in  her  former  hum- 
ble circumstances,  where  she  commonly  wore 
nothing  but  a  tunic,  ,^(tcji'  (comp.  Ex.  xxii.  25  f. ; 
i  Sam.  xiii.  18,  also  Mark  vi.  9,)  and  consequent- 
ly in  the  night  was  entirely  unclothed  with  the 
exception  of  the  warm  covering  or  upper  gar- 
ment (nSoty,  Ex.  ibid..  Gen.    ix.  23;   Dent.  xxii. 

17)  under  which  she  slept. — I  have  washed 
my  feet:  hov7  shall  I  soil  them?  This  is 
again  another  particular  referring  back  to  her 
former  scanty  mode  of  life  in  the  country.  She 
did  not  then  wear  the  shoes,  which  since  her 
elevation  to  be  a  prince's  daughter  (vii.  2)  she 
was  now  obliged  to  wear:  on  the  contrary  she 
ordinarily  went  barefoot  in  the  house  and  in  its 
immediate  vicinity,  except  in  long  walks  in  the 
country  when  she  wore  sandals,  (comp.  Am.  ii.  G, 
viii.  6;  Deut.  xxix.  4;  Josh.  ix.  5).  Hence  the 
feet  washed  before  going  to  bed  might  easily  get 
dirty  again  on  the  floor  of  the  house.  The  soil- 
ing of  the  feet  is  in  the  religious  and  ethical 
region  a  symbol  of  moral  contamination  from  the 
petty  transgressions  of  every-day  life  (John  xiii. 
10);  and  in  the  figurative  language  of  dreams  it 
is  a  well-known  symbol  of  moral  defilement  re- 
proved by  the  conscience  and  accompanied  with 
shame,  comp.  (Schubert,  Symbolik  des  Traums, 
3d  edit.  p.  13,  Splittberher,  ibid.  p.  128  ff.*). 
It  is  therefore  from  going  out  to  her  lover,  this 
symbol  of  more  intimate  and  enduring  intercourse 
with  him,  that  she  apprehends  the  soiling  of 
her  feet.  Hence  the  objections  which  she  makes 
to  complying  with  his  request,  and  the  cold,  al- 
most indifi'erent,  if  not  exactly  "rude"  (Del.) 
tone  of  her  answer. f 

Ver.  4.  My  beloved  extended  his  band 
through  the  virindow.  1inri-[0  lit.,  from 
the  hole,  J  ;.  e.,  through  the  lalticod  window  (for 
that  is  certainly  what  is  intended  here,  as  ap- 
pears from  ii.  9,  not  a  mere  opening  in  the  wall 
as   Hitz.    supposes)    and   from    it    toward    me.^ 

*  A  marked  instance  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  well- 
Icnown  dream  of  tlie  youthful  Ansgarat  Corbie,  of  tlie  broad 
morass,  whicli  prevented  him  fx"om  coming  to  his  motlier  and 
other  pious  women,  whom  he  saw  in  tlie  company  of  the 
blessed  virgin  on  a  delightful  road,  comp.  .4 .  Tappehorn,  Leben 
dus  lieil.  A.VSG.\R,  Apnstels  Van  Duiiemark,  etc.  Munsi.  1863,  p. 
tj'j  f.  RiMBERT.  VUa  S  An.<garii,  c.  2,  in  Pertz,  Monum. 
tjlermania;  Tom.  II.  p.  690. 

t  [BURROWES  states  the  true  sense  much  more  simply  aud 
correctly:  "These  words  mean,  that  as  the  bride  had  retired 
to  rest,  she  could  not  put  herself  to  the  trouble  of  arising 
even  to  let  in  the  beloved."] 

X  [Not  "  withdrew  his  hand  from  the  hole,"  a  rendering 
mentioned  by  Ain'sworth,  disapproved  by  Williams,  and 
adopted  by  BuRROWES  and  iilNSBCRG  J 

^  [  Perct  :  "  It  was  the  ancient  custom  to  secure  the  door 
of  a  house  by  a  cross  bnr  or  bolt ;  which  at  night  wa.s  fastened 
with  a  little  button  or  pin.  In  the  upper  part  ol  the  door 
was  left  a  round  hole,  through  which  any  person  from  with- 
out might  thrust  his  arm,  and  remove  the  bar,  unless  this 
additional  security  were  superadded."    Thrupp:  "The  hole 


104 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON 


V.  2— VUI.  4. 


This  gesture  of  extending  {XyilO)  the  hand  in 
does  not  signify  his  intention  to  climb  in  through 
the  window  (  Hitz.  ),  nor  his  desire  to  gain  access 
by  forcibly  breaking  a  hole  through  the  wall 
(Hengstenbekq  after  Ezek.  viii.  7,  8)  [so 
Wordsworth],  but  is  rather  the  expression  of 
an  urgent  request  to  be  admitted.  The  cus- 
tomary gesture  of  a  petitioner  is,  it  is  true  that 
of  spreading  forth  his  hands  ViJJJ  ly^i)  (Ex.  ix. 
29-31,  elc.)  But  this  could  not  be  done  in  the 
present  instance  on  account  of  the  smallness  of 
the  window  and  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and 
would  besides  have  been  unsuitable  in  relation 
to  his  beloved,  for  everywhere  else  it  appears 
only  as  a  usage  in  prayer.  He  must  here,  there- 
fore, in  craving  admission  adopt  a  gesture,  which 
would  at  the  same  time  express  his  longing  to  be 
united  with  his  beloved  (comp.  Del.  and  Weissb. 
in  loc.) — And  I  was  in'wardly  excited  over 
him;  lit.,  "my  bowels*  were  agitated,  sounded 
over  him" — which  according  to  Jer.  xxxi.  20; 
Isa.  xvi.  11;  Ixiii.  15  is  equivalent  to  "I  felt  a 
painful  sympathy  for  him."  This  was  of  course 
because  she  had  let  him  stand  out  in  the  wet  and 

cold.  According  to  the  reading  ^ij}  (so  the  so- 
called  Erfurt  Ms.,  see  de  Rossi  ih  loc  )  the 
feeling  expressed  would  be  regret  instead  of 
pity:  "  my  bowels  were  agitated  on  me"  (i.  e.  in 
me,  or  over  me,  on  my  account — comp.  Hitz.  and 
Ew.  in  loc.)  But  this  slenderly  attested  reading 
appears  to  have  crept  into  the  text  from  Ps.  xlii. 
6,  12,  and  for  this  reason  to  deserve  no  attention. 
Ver.  6.  Up  I  rose  to  open  to  my  beloved. 
'JN  stands  after  "PpP  without  special  emphasis, 
according  to  the  more  diffuse  style  of  speaking 
among  the  people.  So  Hitz.  no  doubt  correctly, 
whilst  Weissi!.,  is  certainly  far  astr.iy  in  assert- 
ing that  Shulamith  means  by  this  '3^{  to  empha- 
size "her  entire  person  in  contrast  with  any 
particular  parts. "f  And  my  hands  dropped 
■with  myrrh  and  my  fingers  with  liquid 
myrrh  upon  the  handle  of  the  bolt.  That 
is  to  say,  as  my  iiands  touched  the  handle  of  the 
bolt  (or  lock  on  the  door  of  the  house)  in  order 
tosliove  it  back  and  open  it,  they  dropped,  etc. 
7lJ7J"3ri  ni33  1^,  whose  genuineness  Meier 
suspects  without  any  reason,  plainly  shows  that 
the  dropping  of  myrrh  did  not  proceed  from 
Shulamith's  anointing  herself,  as  she  rose  and 
dressed,  (as  M.\g-\'.  and  Weissb.  imagine)  [so  too 
BuKROWEs],  but  from  the  fact  that  her  lover  had 
taken  holdof  tlie  door  on  the  outside  with  pro- 
fusely anointed  hands,  and  so  had  communicated 


JB  that  thrmigli  whicli  according  to  the  fashion  of  eastern 
dooM,  a  person  from  witliont  tlirusts  in  his  hand  in  order  to 
insert  the  Icoy  and  so  to  open  it,  see  Thomson  Tlie  Land  and 
the  Book,  chap,  .xxii.''] 

*  [Alexander  (Comra.  on  Isa.  xvi.  11):  "The  viscera  are 
evidently  mentioned  aa  the  seat  of  the  affections  Modern 
usage  would  reijuire  lieart  and  bosom.  Barnes  correctly 
applies  to  this  verse  the  distinction  which  philologists  have 
made  between  the  ancient  usage  of  bow.-ls  to  denote  the  upper 
viscera  and  its  modern  restriction  to  tlie  tower  viscera,  a 
change  which  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  different  associa- 
tions excited  by  tlie  same  or  equivalent  expressions  then  and 
now."] 

tfTHRDPP:  *^  up  I  arose.''  Literally  "  I  arose."  So  too  at 
fhr'  beginning  of  the  next  verse  the  literal  rendering  is  simply 
"  I  opened."  But  in  both  places  the  use,  contrary  to  the 
Hebrew  custom  of  the  pronoun  'J^?  "I"  is  emphatic;  and 
Beeni';  to  indicate  an  alertness  and  forwardness,  which  must 
Id  an  linglish  rendering  be  expressed  in  some  other  manner.] 


the  fluid  unguent  of  myrrh  to  the  bolt  inside  like- 
wise.* This  might  have  resulted  from  the  unguent 
flowing  in  from  ihe  outer  lock  through  the  key- 
hole (Hitz),  or  some  drops  of  myrrh  from  tb« 
hand  of  her  lover  inserted  through  the  hole 
above  the  door,  might  have  trickled  down  upon 
the  inner  lock,  which  was  directly  beneath  (Del). 
Too  accurate  an  explanation  of  the  aS'air  seems 
inadmissible  from  the  indefinite  dreamlike  char- 
acter of  the  whole  narrative.  But  at  any  rate 
an  anointing  of  the  outer  lock  of  the  door 
by  the  lover  on  purpose  is  not  to  be  thought 
of  (with  Less.,  DiiPKE,  Ew.,  Vaih,,  etc.) 
because  though  classic  parallelsf  may  be 
adduced  for  this  "silent  homage  of  love," 
none  can  be  brought  from  oriental  antiquity. 
— "13ijJ  "liO  is  not  "overflowing  myrrh, "J  i.e., 
dealt  out  in  copious  abundance  (Ew, ),  but  myrrh 
exuding  or  flowing  out  of  itself  in  contrast  with 
that  which  is  solidified  and  gum-like,  afihpva 
CTan-r!]  in  contrast  with  o//.  Tr'AanTi/  (Theophr. 
Hist.  Plant.  9,4);  comp.  "IITI  io  Ex.  xxx.  2-3, 
as  well  as  above  on  i.  13. 

Ver.  6.  I  opened  to  my  beloved,  comp.  on 
5  a. — And  my  beloved  had  turned  away, 
was  gone.  My  soul  failed  when  he  spoke. 
That  is,  before,  when  he  was  speaking  to  ine 
through  the  window  (vers.  2,  4),  my  breath  for- 
sook me,  my  soul  almost  went  out  of  me  §  It  is 
consequently  a  supplementary  remark,  whose 
principal  verb,  however,  is  not  necessarily  to  be 
taken  as  a  pluperfect  (vs.  Dopke), — I  sought 
him  but  I  did  not  find  him ;  I  called  him 
but  he  did  not  ansiwer  me.     With  the  first 

*  [TuRUPP  thinks  the  myrrh  c^me  from  the  hands  of  the 
bridegroom,  Wordsworth  from  those  of  the  bride.  WiLLlAMg : 
"  Commentatora  in  general  suppose  that  the  perfume  here 
called  liquid  myrrh,  proceeded  from  the  moisture  of  his  hands, 
wet  with  dew;  and  the  compliment  in  this  view  is  very  ele- 
gant and  beautiful,  implying  that  the  fragrance  of  his'body 
perfumed  everything  which  came  in  contact  with  it.  If  the 
perfume,  however,  be  referred  to  the  spouse,  I  think  it  will 
imply  that  she  had  auointed  herself  with  such  luxuriancy 
thiit  her  fingers  were  still  wet  with  myrrh;  and  this  would 
partly  account  for  her  reluctancy  to  rise,  since  indulgence 
naturally  induces  sloth,"  Good  and  Patrick  strangely  ima- 
gine that  in  her  haste  to  reach  the  door  she  overturned  a  vaae 
of  fragrance  which  agreeably  to  oriental  practice  she  had 
prepared  for  her  lover.] 

t  Particularly  Lucretius,  IV.  1171 : 

"J'  tncritnans  exdusus  amator  Umina  stspe 
Ftoribus  ft  sertis  operit,  pnstpsqn^  superbos 
tTnguii  amaracino  fi  fnribus  miser  osculajigit." 
Comp.  also  Tibull.  I.  ii.  14 :  .\lhenfv.  ed.  Casaubon,  I.  669. 

X  (ttooD :  "  Pure  or  perhaps  liquid  myrrh,  that  which  weejm 
or  drops  from  the  tree,  the  most  esteemed  hut  most  expensive 
of  this  class  of  perfumes."] 

§  1  NoVES  gives  the  most  satisfactory  explanation  of  this  ex- 
pression :  "  I  was  nnf.  in  my  senses;  literally,  'my  soul  wa5 
gone  from  me.'  The  meaning  most  suited  to  the  connection 
is,  that  she  acted  insanely  in  not  admitting  her  beloved  at  his 
request.  It  seems  to  denote  that  bewilderment  of  the  facul- 
ties  caused  by  fear,  as  in  Gen.  xlii.  28,  or  by  any  other  p;is- 
sion  ;  here  by  the  passion  of  love."  Or  rather  the  bewilder- 
ment intended  would  seem  to  be  that  strange  want  of  sell- 
possession  so  common  in  dreams,  in  consequence  of  wdiicb  a 
person  does  precisely  the  wrong  thing,  and  as  the  result,  hinh 
himself  in  most  embarrassing  and  trying  situations.  West- 
minster Annotations:  "My  neglect  of  his  speech  troubled 
me  when  he  was  gone."  .Scott  :  "  Either  she  now  recollected 
his  former  most  tender  and  afiectionate  call  which  she  had 
resisted ;  or  he  spake  a  reproving  word  as  he  withdrew,  which 
filled  her  with  extreme  distress."  Tnnrpp:  "  My  soul  failed 
me  for  what  he  had  spoken.  Here  the  reference  must  be  to 
the  words  uttered  by  the  bridegroom  when  he  fir^t  presented 
himself  at  the  door:  for  there  is  no  record  of  his  spejikiii;; 
subsequently."  Ginsburo  :  "  When  he  spoke  of  it,  t.  e  ,  of  hi^ 
goingaway."  Moody  STrART:  "  My  soul  failed  for  his  speak- 
ing: with  mingled  desire  and  fear  she  listens  till  her  sou] 
faints  within  her  "J 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


10"i 


of  these  lines  comp.  iii.  2  b;  with  both  together 
Prov.  i.  28  ;  viii.  17. 

Ver.  7.  Found  me  then  the  watchmen, 
etc.  Comp.  iii.  3,  HiTZ.  correctly  :  "  la  her  pre- 
Tioas  dream  the  watchmen  make  no  reply  to  her 
question;  here  without  being  questioned  they 
feply  by  deeds." — Took  my  veil  off  from  me. 
VT1(rrom  Til  spread  out,  disperse,  malce  thin) 
is  according  to  Isa.  iii.  23  a  fine  light  material 
thrown  over  the  person  like  a  veil,  such  as  was 
worn  by  noble  ladies  in  Jerusalem  ;  comp.  Targ. 
onGen.  xxiv.  6.5;  xxxviii.  14  where  KTIT  repre- 
sents the  Heb.   TJV-*  "Suo  ^X'fi  certainly  means 

I  •  T         -^  •■  :  It  *^ 

not  a  bare  "lifting"  (Meier),  but  a  forcible 
tearing  off  and  taking  away  of  this  article  of 
dress  ;  else  this  expression  would  not  form  with 
the  preceding  "they struck  me,  wounded  me,"  the 
climax,  which  the  poet  evidently  intends. — The 
'watchmen  of  the  v^alls ;  not  the  subject  of 
the  immediately  preceding  clause  (VVeissb.),  but 
a  repetition  of  the  principal  subject  which  stands 
at  the  beginning  of  the  verse.  In  her  complaint 
Bhe  naturally  comes  back  to  the  ruffians  who  had 
done  all  this  to  ber,  the  villainous  watchmen. — 
"  Watchmen  of  llie  walls,"  whose  functions  re- 
late as  in  this  instance  to  the  interior  of  the  city, 
and  who,  therefore,  were  not  appointed  princi- 
pally with  a  view  to  the  exterior  circuit  walls, 
occur  also  Isa.  Ixii.  6. 

Ver.  8.  I  adjure  you,  etc.  For  this  expres- 
sion, as  well  as  the  niasc.  form  of  address,  comp. 
on  ii.  7. — What  shall  ye  tell  him?  So  cor- 
rectly Ew..  Heiliostedt,  Del.,  Henqstenb.  etc.  ; 
for  although  713  sometimes  expresses  an  earnest 
negative  or  prohibition,  and  might  therefore  be 
synonymous  with  DX  in  ii.  7 ;  iii.  5,  yet  the 
translation  "  do  not  tell  him  that  I  am  sick  of 
love"  (Weissb.  and  others)  yields  a  less  natural 
sense  tluin  the  one  given  above,  according  to 
which  Shulamith  seeks  to  induce  her  lover  to  a 
speedy  return  by  the  intelligence  of  her  being 
sick  of  love.  And  in  fact  she  connects  a  charge 
of  this  purport  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  im- 
mediately with  the  narrative  of  her  dream,  be- 
cause this  had  already  evidenced  in  various  ways 
that  she  had  an  almost  morbid  longing  for  her 
lover   (see   especially   ver.   4,  b ;  vers.  6,  7.) 

4.  Continuation,  b.  Shulamith's  description 

OF  HER  LOVER,  V.    9-16. 

Ver.  9.  What  is  thy  beloved  more  than 
(any  other)  beloved,  thou  fairest  among  wo- 
men? This  question  of  i  lie  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem which  serves  in  an  admirable  way  to  connect 
what  precedes  with  the  following  description  of  the 
beauty  of  her  lover,  springs  from  the  assumption 
readily  suggested  by  vers.  2-4,  that  Shulamith's 
lover  was  some  other  than  Solomon ;  an  as- 
sumption admitted  without  scruple  by  the  vo- 
luptuous ladies  of  the  court,  in  spite  of  their 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  Shulamith  had  shortly 
before  given  her  hand  to  the  king  as  her  lawful 
husb.ind.      It  is  therefore  a  question  of  real  ignor- 

*  [Thrupp  :  "  It  seema  to  be  generally  agreetl  that  the  word 
T''n  occurring  here,  and  at  Isaiah  iii.  Si,  denot'-^s  a  wide  and 
thin  garment,  such  as  Eastern  ladies  to  the  present  day  throw 
over  all  the  rest  of  their  dress.  Tlie  Germans  well  tnmslate 
it  Schleierkleid,  veil-garment."  Good  :  "  To  tear  away  the 
veil  from  an  K;istern  lady  is  one  of  the  greatest  indignities 
that  can  be  offered  to  her."] 


ance  and  curiosity,*  which  they  here  address  to 
Shulamith,  not  the  mere  show  of  a  question  with 
the  view  of  leading  her  to  the  enthusiastic  praise 
of  the  king  who  was  well  known  to  the  ladies  of 
the  court  and  beloved  by  them  likewise  (Del.); 
and  quite  as  little  was  it  a  scornful  question 
(DiiPKE,  Meier)  or  reproachful  (Magn.)  or  one 
involving  but  a  gentle  reproof  (Hitz. ) — against 
these  last  opinions  the  words  "fairest  among 
women"  are  decisive. 

Ver.  10.  My  beloved  is  white  and  ruddy, 
distinguished  above  ten  thousand.  Tins 
general  statement  precedes  the  more  detailed 
description  of  the  beauties  of  her  lover,  which 
then  follows  vers.  11-15  in  ten  particulars,  at  the 
close  of  which  (ver.  10)  stands  another  general 
eulogium. — The  aim  of  the  entire  description  is 
evidently  to  depict  Solomon,  as  one  who  is  with- 
out blemish  from  head  to  foot,  as  is  done  2  Sam. 
xiv.  '2o,  2(i  in  the  case  of  his  brother  Absalom. 
X  commendation  of  his  fair  color,  or  his  good 
looks  in  general  fitly  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
description. — PIS  lit.,  "dazzling  white;" stronger 

tha 


37;  an  expression  which  may  be  applied 
to  a  king's  son,  but  scarcely  to  a  simple  young 
shepherd  from  the  country.  His  face  might  very 
well  be  called  ruddy  or  brownish  (as  1  Sam  xvi. 
12)  but  scarcely  dazzling  white;  and  it  is  to  the 
face  that  the  predicate  mainly  refers,  as  a  com- 
parison with  vers.  14  and  15  shows. — ^To  white  as 
the  fundamental  color  is  added  the  blooming  red 
(DnX)  of  the  cheeks  and  other  parts  of  the  face 
both  here  in  the  case  of  Solomon  and  Lam.  iv.  7 
in  the  description  of  the  fair  Nazarites  of  Jeru- 
salem, which  reminds  one  of  the  passage  before 
us. —  "Distinguished  above  ten  thousand,"  lit. 
'■from  ten  thousand,  or  a  myriad"  (n^^T),  i.e., 
surpassing  an  immense  number  in  beauty.  Comp. 
Ps.  xci.  7,  as  well   as  the  plur.   ill^JT  Ps.  iii.  7 ; 

Dent,   xxxiii.    17.  —  7UT    from    /JT    "standard, 

T 

banner,"  as  in  Lat.  in»ignis  from  sijniim,  denotes 
one  that  is  conspicuous  as  a  standard  amidst  a 
host  of  other  men,  signalized,  distinguished  above 
others,  and  [3  is  again  comparative  as  in  ver.  *J. 
The  expression  is  evidently  a  military  one  like 
niSlJJ  vi.  4,  10. 

T  :  • 

Ver.  11.  His  head  is  pure  gold  The  com- 
parison is  not  direclet-l  to  liie  color  of  the  face,  iis 
though  this  was  to  be  represented  as  a  reddish 
brown  (Hitz.).  but.  to  the  appearance  of  the  head 
as  a  whole.  From  the  combined  radiance  of  his 
fresh  and  blooming  countenance,  and  of  his  glossy 
black  hair  adorned  with  a  golden  crown,  it  pre- 
sented to  the  beholder  at  a  distance  tlie  appear- 
ance of  a  figure  made  of  solid  gold  with  a  reddish 
lustre.  Dj^3  according  to  Gesen.,  Henoste.nb., 
and  others,  equivalent  to  that  which  is  hidden, 
coneealed^gold  that  is  treasured  up  ;  according 
to  Dietrich  and  others  from  DHD  "to  be  solid, 
dense,"  hence  massive  gold;  according  to 
Hitz.,  Weissb.,  etc.,  equivalent  to  that  which  is 

*|"Mtich  better  Thrcpp:  "That  the  dramatic  form  may  Im 
preserved  a  question  is  liere  put  by  the  chorus  of  the  Daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem  in  order  to  furnish  occasion  for  the  descrip- 
tion which  follows."  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  iufjuiry 
is  not  who  he  is,  rts  thoui;h  it  implitjd  their  ignorance  of  his 
person,  but  what  is  he.  They  simply  wish  to  draw  from  h'T 
her  estimate  of  him. — Tr.I 


106 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


reddish,  of  red  lustre,  which  latter  explanation 
is  favored  by  Arabic  parallels  and  by  the  expres- 
sion OnOJ  Jer.  ii.  22.  The  adjective  13  con- 
nected with  it  designates  this  gold  as  carefully 
refined  and  purified  (comp.  the  Hoph.  part.  iiJIO 
with  the  like  sense  1  Kin.  x.  18). — His  locks 
are  hill  upon  hill.  O'lPnjy  may  be  thus  ex- 
plained with  Del.,  Weissb.,  etc.,  by  deriving  it 
from  hhr\  to  raise,  heap  up  (whence  ir\  a  hill 
and  S?Sn  high,  Ezek.  xvii.  22).  Commonly 
"palm   branches,"    ("flexible    or   curling   palm 

branches"  from  hbr\  in  the  sense  of  "wavering 
or    swaying    to     and     fro");      or     "pendent, 

hanging  locks"  (from  TVtn  suspendit  —  so  Hengs- 
TENB.);    or  "  pendulous   clusters  of  grapes  "   (as 

though  D''7nbn=D"'7l'7I  Isa.  xviii.  5— so  HiTZ.). 
The  comparison  reminds  us  somewhat  of  that 
witli  the  flock  of  goats  on  Mount  Gilead  (iv.  2; 
vi.  5)  ;  which  was  also  designed  to  set  forth  his 
long  curling  locks  piled  one  on  another.— 
Black  as  a  raven.  Parallels  to  this  simile 
from  Arab,  poets,  see  in  Hartmann,  Ideal  weibl. 
Schonkeit,  I.  45  f.,  comp.  Magnus  on  Cant.  iv.  1 
(p.  85)  and  Dopke  m  loc.  The  latter  adduces 
particularly  two  verses  of  Motasebbi  (from  J. 
V.  Hammek,  p.  11) : 

"  Black  as  a  raven  and  tliick  as  midnight  gloom, 
Which  of  itself,  with  no  hairdresser,  curls." 

Ver.  12.  His  eyes  like  doves  by  brooks 
of  Twater.  On  the  comparison  of  the  eyes  wiih 
doves  comp.  i.  15.  In  this  case  it  is  not  doves 
in  general,  but  particularly  doves  sitting  "  by 
brooks  of  water  "  (lit.  water-channels  or  beds)  to 
which  the  eyes  are  likened  doubtless  in  order  to  re- 
present the  lustrous  brightness  .-md  the  moisture  of 
the  white  of  the  eye  by  a  figure  like  tliat  employed 
vii.  5,  and  to  place  it  in  fitting  contrast  with  the 
iris  whose  varied  hues  resemble  the  plumage  of 
the  dove.— Bathing  in  milk,  sitting  on  ful- 
ness. A  further  description  of  the  relation  of 
the  "  doves"  to  the  "  brooks  of  water,"  i.  e.  of 
the  iris  (with  the  pupil)  to  the  white  that  sur- 
rounds it.  These  water-brooks  here  appear  to 
be  filled  up  with  milk  instead  of  water,  and  the 
doves  answering  to  the  irides  of  both  eyes  are 
represented  as  bathing  in  this  milk  and  accord- 
ingly as  "sitting  on"  or  "by  fulness" — in 
which  there  is  an  allusion  likewise  to  the  convex 
form  of  the  eye  (correctly  the  Septuao.,  Vulo., 
BvB.,  and  after  them  Henostenb.,  Weissbach, 
etc.).  nxSo,  lit.  "fulness,"  an  idea  undefined 
in  itself,  is  here  limited  by  the  preceding  'p'3N 
D'O  and  therefore  means  "the  fulness  of  the 
water-courses,      that     which     fills     them    up " 

(Weissb.);  and  the  Sj?  which  stands  before  it, 
indicates  the  same  sense  substantially  of  sitting 
by  this  fulness,  as  is  expressed  by  the  same 
preposition  before  D'O  'p'^**  (comp.  Ps.  i.  3). 
Others  take  r\xH:3  in  the  sense  of  "setting"  as 
of  a  gem  (comparing  |:X  nx'^O  Ex.  xxviii.  17) 
and  hence  translate  "enthroned  in  a  setting" 
(Magn.)  or  "jewels  finely  set"  (Bottch.,  Del., 


preceded  by  Ibn  Ezba,  Jabch.,  Rosenm., 
Winer).     But  in  opposition  to  this  may  be  urged 

both  the  absence  of  [3X  after  the  indefinite  HX 7D. 
and  the  prep,  l}?  instead  of  which  2  might  rather 
have  been  expected  More  correctly  CocCEius 
and  DiiPKE,  who  explain  it  "over  the  setting" 
i.  e.  "over  the  edge  of  the  brook,"  though  still 
they   do    violence    to   the    natural   meaning    of 

r\iiha. 

Ver.  13.    His  cheeks  like  a  bed  of  balm. 

The  tert.  compar.  is  not  barely  their  delightful 
fragrance,  but  likewise  the  superb  growth  of 
beard  upon  his  cheeks.  Shulamith  would 
scarcely  have  compared  beardless  cheeks  with  a 
bed  of  balm,  i.  e.  a  garden  plot  covered  with 
plants.  That  she  likens  the  two  cheeks  to  but 
one  bed  may  be  explained  from  the  fact  that  the 
beard,  which  likewise  surrounds  the  chin  and 
lips,  unites  them  into  one  whole,  which  like  the 
borders   in   many  gardens   has   its   two   parallel 

sides  (comp.  Hitzig).  The  punctuation  run.g. 
which  the  ancient  versions  seem  to  have  followed 
(e.  ff.  VuLG.  '' sicut  areolx  aromatum")  and  which 
Weissb.  still  prefers,  accordingly  appears  to  be 
less  suitable  than  the  sing.  i^J'"li^  here  retained 
by  the  Masorites;  whilst  the  plur.  nU?"'!'  is  un- 
questionably the  true  reading  in  vi.  2. — Toners 
of  spice  plants.  The  expression  HwlJD 
D"npl3  is  doubtless  so  to  be  understood,  as  ex- 
planatory apposition  to  D'i'3n  ru^l^  and  the  bed 
of  balm  is  accordingly  to  be  conceived  of  as  a 
plot  embracing  several  "towers"  or  pyramidal 
elevations  of  aromatic  herbs,  by  which  the  rich 
luxuriance  of  his  beard  and  perhaps  also  its  fine 
curly  appearance  is  most  fitly  set  forth  (Ew.,  De- 
LiTzscH,  Hengstenb.,  etc.).  We  can  see  no 
ground  for  the  scruples,  which  are  alleged  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  this  explanation,  or  why  we 
must  with  J.  Cappellus  suppose  a  reference  to 
"boxes  of  unguents"  (pyxides  unguentorum)  or 
with  Hitzig,  Frieur.,  Weissb.,  follow  the 
Septuao.  (ipvovaai  fivpsijuKa)  in  reading  the  part. 

;ii'71J0.     The  fem.  plur.  fl'lSlJO  from  SlJD   is 

;-  :  ^  :  :  ■  t  :  ■ 

also  attested  by  viii.  10.  The  custom  of  raising 
fragrant  plants  on  mounds  of  earth  of  a  pyram- 
idal or  high  tower-like  shape,  receives  sufficient 
confirmation  from  iv.  6  (the  "mountain  of 
myrrh"  and  the  "hill  of  frankincense").  And 
the  whole  comparison  appears  to  be  entirely  ap- 
propriate, if  we  but  think  of  the  beard  on  the 
chin  and  cheeks  of  her  lover  as  not  merely  a  soft 
down  (HiTZ.)  but  as  a  vigorous,  finely  cultivated 
and  carefully  arranged  growth  of  hair.  And  in 
this  we  are  justified  in  precise  proportion  as  we 
rid  ourselves  of  the  notion  of  a  youtliful  lover  of 
the  rank  of  a  shepherd,  and  keep  in  view  king 
Solomon  in  the  maturity  of  middle  life  as  the 
object  of  the  description  before  us.  Besides  the 
circumstance  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of  per- 
fuming the  beard,  as  is  still  done  to  a  considera- 
ble extent  in  the  east  (see  Arvieux,  R.,  p.  52; 
uella  Valle,  II.  98:  Harmer,  Beohac/it.,  II.  77, 
83;  Rkiskeou  yura/a,  p.  46)  may  have  contributed 
its  share  to  the  particular  form  of  the  compari- 
son.—His  lips  lilies,  dropping  liquid  myrrh. 


V.  2— via.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


101 


Of  course  it  is  not  white  but  red  lilies,  lilies  of 
the  color,  denoted  iv.  3  by  the  "crimson  thread," 
to  which  the  lips  of  her  lover  are  here  likened. 
The  "dropping  of  liquid  myrrh"  (comp.  on  ver. 
3)  refers  not  to  the  lilies  (Syb.,  Rosenm.)  but 
directly  to  the  lips.  It  serves  to  represent  the 
lovely  fragrance  of  the  breath,  which  issues 
from  her  lips  (comp  vii.  9);  for  the  "loveliness 
of  his  speech"  (Heng.stenb.,  comp.  Tarq.)  is 
not  mentioned  till  ver.  16. 

Ver.  14.  His  bands  golden  rods.     Others, 
as  CoccEi.,  Gesen.,  (Thesaur.  p.  287),  Rosenm., 

DoPKE,  Vaih.,  [so  Eno.  Ver.],  take  3nJ  'j'?-' 
to  be  gold  rings,  which  they  refer  to  the  bent  or 
closed  hand,  with  allusion  also  to  the  finger- 
nails colored  with  alhenua  as  compared  with  the 
jewels  of  the  rings.  Very  arbitrarily,  because 
ij  the  curved  or  hollow  hand  must  necessarily 
have  been  denoted  by  ^ID;  2)  the  proper  expres- 
sion for  ring  would  not  have  been  T/J  but 
Onin  or  r>^|a ;  3)  D'n'^P:D  could  no  more  ex- 
press the  idea  of  being  "set  with  anything," 
than  turquoises  standing  with  it  could  yield  a 
figure  even  remotely  appropriate  for  yellow- 
stained  finger  nails.  /'/J  is  rather  roller,  cylin- 
der, rod,  and  the  expression  "golden  rods"  is 
applied  primarily  to  the  individual  fingers  with 
reference  to  their  reddish  lustre  and  finely 
rounded  shape  (comp.  ver.  11  a)  and  then  by 
synecdoche  to  the  hands  consisting  of  the  fin- 
gers.*— Encased  in  turquoises.  Wliatever 
precious  stone  may  be  intended  by  D'Ey^J]), 
whether  the  chrysolite  of  the  ancients  (see 
Septuao.,  Ex.  xxviii.  17;  xxxix.  13)  wliich 
seems  to  answer  to  our  topaz  ;  or  what  is  now 
called  the  turquoise  (a  light-blue  semi-precious 
stone);  or  the  onyx,  wiiich  Hitzig  proposes  (though 
this  was  called  QTVV  Gen.  ii.  12,  elc),  it  is  at  all 
events  in  bad  taste  to  understand  by  this  enca- 
sing of  tlie  fingers  in  costly  jewels  anything 
but  actual  jewel  ornaments  with  which  his  hands 
glittered,  agreeably  to  the  well-known  custom 
in  the  ancient  East  of  wearing  many  rings. 
(Comp.  Winer,  Uenlu-orterb.,  Art.,  "R.inr/e" 
and  '•  Siegelring").  The  nails  in  and  of  them- 
selves differed  too  little  in  color  and  lustre  from 
the  fingers  and  hands  as  a  whole,  to  admit  of 
their  being  compared  with  precious  stones;  and 
staining  them  with  alhenna  (comp.  on  i.  14)  if 
practised  at  all  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  was  most 
likely  a  custom  restricted  to  women  and  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  likewise  in  use  amongst 

men.  On  X^O  in  the  sense  of  "encasing" 
(lit.,  to  fill  in  the  encasement  or  enclosure)  comp. 
Ex.  xxviii.  17;  xxxi.  5;  xxxv.  33.  "Golden 
rods  encased  in  turquoise  "  or  "  with  turquoise" 

*  [Thrdpp  :  "  His  hands  are   folding  panels  of  gold.    The 

word  7'7j  is  applied,  as  we  learn  from  1  Rings  vi.  34,  to  the 
separate  portions  of  a  folding  door ;  the  doors  to  the  holy  of 
holies  consisted  of  two  leaves,  each  of  which  in  its  turn 
consisted  of  two  halves  or  folds.  There  is  no  passage  in 
which  the  word  denotes  a 'ring;'  nor  wonid  this  meaning 
be  here  so  appropriate.  The  image  is  that  of  a  door,  not 
necess.arily  a  large  door,  constructed  in  four  or  five  separate 
folds,  corresponding  to  the  appearance  presented  by  the  hand 
when  the  fingers,  while  kept  in  contact  with  each  other,  are 
stretched  at  full  length."] 


are  properly  such  rods  filled  into  the  body  of 
jewels  here  named  /.  e.  surrounded  and  glitter- 
ing with  them  (comp.  Weissb.  m  loc). — His 
body  a  figure  of  ivory,  veiled  ivith  sap- 
phires. I'i'D  here,  where  the  exterior  parts  of 
the  body  only  are  enumerated,  is  certainly  not 
"his  bowels,  his  inwards"  (Hengstenberg), 
but  "  his  body,"  comp.  vii.  3,  as  well  as  Dan.  ii.  32, 
where  Ci^S  also  stands  as  a  synonym  of  ]£33.  It 
is  only  the  pure  white  and  the  smooth  appearance 
of  the  body,  i.  e.  of  the  trunk  generally,  including 
the  breast,  thighs,  etc.,  which  can  be  intended 
by  the  comparison  with  an  W  TW'^  a  "  figure  of 

ivory "  [riUJ!  sing,  of  nij"ltyj>|  [but  see  Gesen. 
Lex.  a.  V. — Tr  ]  forms,  thoughts.  Job  xii.  5),  a 
comparison  in  which  that  ivory  work  of  art  re- 
stored by  Solomon  according  to  1  Kin.  x.  18  may 
have  been  before  the  mind  of  the  speaker.  The 
sapphires  veiling  the  statue  are  naturally  a  figure 
of  the  dress  of  sapphire-blue  or  better  still  of  the 
dress  confined  by  a  splendid  girdle  studded  with 
sapphires.  On  the  latter  assumption  the  appa- 
rent "  unsuitableness  of  the  comparison  "  van- 
ishes, which  certainly  would  have  to  be  admitted 
(HiTZ.)  if  the  sapphire  referred  to  the  azure 
color  of  the  dress.  For  it  would  evidently  be 
too  far-fetched,  with  Vaih.  to  refer  the  sapphire 
to  the  "  blue  veins  appearing  through  the  splen- 
did white  skin  of  the  body,"  and  this  would 
neither  comport  with  the  deep  blue  color  of  the 
sapphire  or  lapis  lazuli,  nor  with  the  expression 

"veiled,  covered  (HSb^'?)  with  sapphires." — ■ 
There  is  accordingly  an  indirect  proof  of  the 
royal  rank  and  condition  of  Shulamith's  lover  in 
the  representations  of  this  verse  likewise,  espe- 
cially in  its  allusions  to  the  ornaments  of  precious 
stones  on  the  hands  and  about  the  waist  of  the 
person  described. 

Ver.  15.  His  legs  columns  of  white  mar- 
ble. The  figure  of  an  elegant  statue  is  here 
continued  with  little  alteration.  To  understand 
the  D'pji^  simply  of  the  lower  part  of  the  legs 
and  to  assume  that  Shulamith  omits  to  mention 
the  D'.??.'.  '■  ^'  'l"^  upper  part  of  the  legs  from  a 
fine  sense  of  decorum  (Hirz.)  is  inadmissible, 
because  D'pjiy  according  to  passages  like  Prov. 
xxvi.  7 ;  Isa.  xlvii.  2  appears  to  include  the 
upper  part  of  the  leg,  whilst  WD"}'  according  to 
Gen,  xxiv.  2;  Ex.  xxviii.  42:  Dan.  ii.  32,  etc., 
denotes  rather  the  loins  or  tliat  ])art  of  the  bodj 
where  the  legs  begin  to  separate.  Further, 
the  mention  of  the  legs  and  just  before  of 
the  body  could  only  be  regarded  as  unbecom- 
ing or  improper  by  an  overstrained  prudish- 
ness,  because  the  description  which  is  here 
given  avoids  all  libidinous  details  and  is  so 
strictly  general  as  not  even  to  imply  that  she 
had  ever  seen  the  parts  of  the  body  in  question 
in  a  nude  condition.  It  merely  serves  to  com- 
plete the  delineation  of  her  lover,  which  Shula- 
mith sketches  by  a  gradual  descent  from  head 
to  foot,  and  moreover  is  to  belaid  to  the  account 
of  the  poet  rather  than  to  that  of  Shulamith, 
who  is  in  every  thing  else  so  chaste  and  delicate 
in  her  feelings. — The  legs  are  compared  with 
"white  marble"  (E'^)  principally  on  account  of 


108 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIU.  4. 


the  lustrous  color  of  their  skin,  not  with  refer- 
ence to  their  solidity ;  for  an  Arabic  poet 
(Amhd  b  Kklth.,  Moal.  Ter.  18)  pictures  even  the 
legs  of  a  girl  as  "pillars  of  marble  and  ivory;" 
and  the  figure  of  the  marble  column  is  also  em- 
ployed in  a  like  sense  by  Greek  poets  and  my  tho- 
graphers  (comp.  Vaih.  in  loc).  Set  on  bases 
of  fine  gold,  viz.,  on  the  feet  which  are  here 
named  as  the  bases  or  pedestals  of  the  columns 
(their  niD")  without  however  .going  into  any 
further  description  of  them.*  Hisaspect  like 
Iiebanon.  ilSIO  "ot  synonymous  with  H^lp 
"  stature  "  (vii.  8).  but  denoting  his  entire  appear- 
ance, his  whole  figure  and  bearing  comp.  ii.  14.  J 
By  this  comparison  with  Lebanon  his  figure  is 
characterized  as  majesiically  tall  and  impressive, 
comp.  Jer.  xlvi.  18.  There  is  probably  no  allu- 
sion to  the  "lordly  look"  which  Lebanon  bestows 
upon  his  beholders  {vs.  Rosenm.,  M.\gn.),  and 
still  less  likelihood  of  a  reference  to  the  roots  of 
the  mountain  penetrating  deeply  and  extending 
widely  in  the  earth  as  analogous  to  the  "  roots  of 
her  lover's  feel."  Job  xiii.  27  ;  Hos.  xiv.  6  {vs. 
HiTz.). — Choice  as  the  cedars;  that  is,  stately 
and  m.ajestic  as  tliese  giant  trees  which  crown 
the  summit  of  Lebanon. 

Ver.  16.  His  palate  (is)  STweets.  '^n  is  not 
the  mouth  for  kissing  (M.vgn.,  Bottcu.)  but  the 
palate  as  an  organ  of  speech,  as  in  Job  vi.  30  ; 
xxxi.  30;  Prov.  v.  3;  viii.  7.  HiTZ.  correctly: 
"It  is  speech  which  first  betrays  that  the  beauti- 
ful body  described  vers.  10-15  has  a  soul;" 
whilst  Weissb.  in  asserting  that  the  palate  is 
here  regarded  as  an  organ  of  breathing  like  the 
lips  ver.  13,  fails  to  perceive  this  advance  from 
the  corporeal  to  the  spiritual  and  creates  an  un- 
handsome repetition.  On  1  tie  figure  comp.  Prov. 
xvi.  21;  xxvii.  9. — And  he  is  altogether  pre-  { 

cions.  w3  "all  of  him"  combines  in  one  the; 
sum  total  of  the  ten  corporeal  excellencies  enu- 
merated in  vi-rs.  11-1.5  together  with  the  last 
named  endowment  of  a  spiritual  nature,  and  thus 
completes  the  portrait  of  her  lover,  whereupon 
there  follows  the  general  reference  to  the  pre- 
ceding description  :  "This  is  my  beloved,  and  this 
my  friend,  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem." 

5.  Conclusion,  c.  The  question  where  her 

LOVER  IS  ANn    ShULAMITH's   ANSWER,    VI.    1-3. 

Ver.  1.  Whither  has  thy  beloved  gone,  f/c 

As  in  nhat  precedes  Shulatnith  had  made  no  dis- 
tinct declaration  respecting  the  person  of  her 
lover,  but  only  given  an  ideal  description  of  his 
beauty,  the  women  might  still  remain  uncertain 
who  and  where  he  was.  Hence  this  additional 
question,  which  like  that  in  v.  9  is  a  question  of 
curiosity  and  expresses  some  such  sense  as  this  :  If  ^ 
then  thy  lover  is  a  person  of  such  extraordinary 
elegance  and  beauty,  how  could  he  have  suffered 
you  to  be  away  from  him?  how  could  he  have 
permitted  you  to  become  the  wife  of  another  so 
that  you   now   must  pine   after   him  and   seek 

*  (BtTRROwES  :  *'  Tlieee  doubtless  refer  to  the  l)eauty  of  his 
nandals ;"  so  Good,  Taylor.  Williams  and  others.  This  .seems 
to  he  the  Ijetter  explanation  notwithstanding  Ginshurg's 
objection:  "That  it  refers  to  his  feet  and  not  to  his  san- 
dals is  evident  from  vers.  11  and  14,  where  the  head  and  the 
hands,  the  visible  parts  of  tlie  body,  are  described  as  golden  ; 
and  it  ie  but  natunil  that  the  feet,  the  on!y  remaining  ex- 
l<^k.d  part£,  should  also  be  described  as  golden.") 


longingly  for  him?  At  all  events  that  particular 
in  Shulamith's  story  of  her  dream,  according  to 
which  her  lover  "had  turned  away,  was  gone," 
V.  6,  determined  the  form  of  their  question.  The 
women  may  have  thought  that  they  perceived  in 
this  the  echo  of  an  actual  occurrence,  a  sudden 
desertion  of  Shulamilh  by  her  former  lover. 
Manifestly  no  one  of  them  thought  of  Solomon  as 
the  object  of  her  languishing  and  painful  desire. 
V,r.  2.  My  beloved  has  gone  down 
to  his  garden,  to  the  beds  of  balm.  This 
answer  of  Shulamilh  is  certainly  evasive,  but 
scarcely  jesting  and  roguish  (Hitz.)  ;  it  is  ra- 
ther sadly  ironical.  She  does  not  seriously 
mean  to  represent  Solomon  as  actually  occupied 
with  working  in  the  garden  or  with  rural  plea- 
sures (as  Del.  supposes).  She  merely  intends  to 
intimate  that  other  matters  seem  more  pressing 
and  important  to  him  than  intercourse  with  her, 
his  chosen  love,  and  with  this  view  she  makes 
use  of  those  pastoral  and  agricultural  (horticul- 
tural) tropes,  with  which  she  is  most  conversant 
and  most  entirely  at  home  (comp.  i.  7,  14:  ii. 
3,  \&,  etc  )  It  is  further  probable  that  "going 
down  lothe  beds  of  b.alm  "  and  "gathering lilies" 
may  contain  an  allusion  to  amorous  intercourse 
meanwhile  indulged  with  others  of  his  wives; 
and  with  this  the  primarily  apologetic  drift  of 
her  whole  statement,  which  is  purposely  figura- 
tive and  ambiguous,  might  very  well  consist. 
What  Shulamilh  here  says  can  in  no  event 
refer  to  a  lover  ef  the  rank  of  a  shepherd; 
for  it  would  be  trifling  and  in  bad  taste  to 
attribute  to  him  in  that  case  besides  his 
main  business  of  feeding  his  flock,  that  of  being 
engaged  with  beds  of  balm  and  other  objects  be- 
longing to  the  higher  branches  of  gardening 
(comp.  Weissb.  in  loc.)  and  to  explain  the  "gar- 
den" in  the  sense  of  iv.  12-15  (that  is,  of  Shula- 
mith  herself,  as  the  locked  garden,  which  her 
country  lover  had  now  come  to  Jerusalem  to 
visit )  must  be  regarded  a*:  the  extreme  of  exegeti- 
cal  subtilty,  and  can  neither  be  brought  into  har- 
mony with  the  verb  "^y    "has  gone  down"   (for 

which  we  would  then  rather  expect  Vny  "has 
come  up"),  nor  with  the  plur.  D'^J3  "in  the  gar- 
dens" {vs.  Hitz.,  Bottcu.,  Ren.). 

Ver.  3.  I  am  my  beloved's,  etc. — The  par- 
tial transposition  of  the  words  as  compared  with 
ii.  16  is  not  due  to  chance,  but  is  an  intentional 
alteration:  comp.  iv.  2  with  vi.  6;  ii.  17  with 
viii.  14. — The  connexion  of  the  exclamation  be- 
fore us  with  ver.  2  is  given  by  Hitzig  with  sub- 
stantial correctness:  "The  ivords  of  ver.  2  are  a 
rebuff  to  strangers  concerning  themselves  aliout. 
her  lover ;  tlie  averment  in  ver.  3  that  they  be- 
long to  one  another,  indirectly  excludes  a  third, 
and  is  thus  inwardly  connected  with  ver.  2." 
With  which  it  must  nevertheless  be  kept  in  view 
that  this  present  assertion  is  not  made  without, 
at  the  same  time,  feeling  a  certain  pain  at  the  in- 
fidelity of  one  so  purely  and  tenderly  beloved.* — 

*  [This  is  certainly  a  most  extraordinary  comment  uj»on 
language  which  manifestly  expresses  nothing  but  the  mi.sL 
entire  contidenee  in  Solomon's  unabated  attachment  to  her- 
self while  it  reaffirms  tier  own  undivided  attachment  to  him. 
The  inconstancy  of  the  bridegroom,  which  Zockler's  precon- 
ceived scheme  obliges  him  to  assume,  is  contradicted  in  ex- 
press terms  by  this  verse,  converts  ver.  2  into  an  unmeaning 
evasion  instead  oj"  the  frank  statement,  whether  literal  or 


V.  2— VIII.  i. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


109 


The  remark  made  by  Del.  on  this  verse  cannot 
be  substantiated:  "With  these  words,  impelled 
by  love  and  followed  by  the  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem (?),  she  continues  on  her  way^  hasteniug  to  the 
arms  of  her  lover  "  (similarly  too  Weissb).  The 
text  does  not  contain  the  slightest  intimation  of 
such  a  departure  of  Shulamith  to  look  for  him, 
and  a  consequent  change  of  scene.  Comp 
above.  No.  2. 

6.    Second  Scene,     a.  Solomon's  beitebated 

PKAISE  OF  THE  BEAUTT  OF  ShULAMITH,   verS.  4-10. 

The  simplest  view  of  this  scene  is  that  all  to  ver. 
10  incl.  is  an  encomium  pronounced  by  the  king, 
who  has  meanwhile  entered,  upon  his  beloved,  but 
hitherto  somewhat  neglected  and  consequently 
saddened  wife  Shulamith,  whilst  vers.  11,  VI  is 
spoken  by  her,  and  vii.  1  by  her  aliernately  with 
tlie  chorus.  And  the  following  explanation  of 
(lie  details  will  show  that  this  is  on  all  accounts 
tlie  most  satisfactory.  We  must  reject,  therefore, 
I  tie  views  of  Ewald,  who  puts  the  whole,  even  the 
ooiloquy,  vi.  11  to  vii.  1,  into  the  mouth  of  Solo- 
mon, and  consequently  assumes  but  one  speaker; 
of  HiTziG,  who  inake^  the  ladies  of  the  court  re- 
tire and  the  "  shepherd  "  enter  and  speak,  ver.  9 ; 
of  BoTTCHEB,  who  besides  introduces  the  queen 
mother  likewise  as  a  speaker  in  the  words  "she  is 
the  only  one  of  her  mother,  the  choice  of  her  that 
b  ire  her  "  (ver.  9  n) ;  of  Umbbeit,  who  takes  ver. 
10  to  be  the  question  of  the  poet,  vers.  11  ff.  the 
1  iiiguage  of  Sliulamitli  walking  sadly  about  in  the 
king's  nut  garJ>-n;  of  Magnus,  wlio  breaks  up  the 
whole  section  into  no  less  than  five  fragments,  etc. 
Ver.  4.  Fair  art  thou,  my  dear,  as  Tirzah, 
comely  as  Jerusalem. — H.iTnn  Tiizah  ("de- 
lightful;" also  the  name  of  a  woman.  Numb. 
xxvi.  33,  in  the  passage  before  us  rendered 
.■I'-S'w'a  by  the  Sept.)  is  certainly  the  subsequent 
residence  of  the  kings  in  the  northern  kingdom, 
yet  not  here  named  as  such  along  with  Jerusalem, 
l)ut  as  a  remarkably  beautiful  and  charming  town 
in  northern  Palestine.  Its  mere  name  cannot 
possibly  have  afforded  the  reason  of  its  being 
mentioned.  It  is  much  more  liktily  that  its  loca- 
tion not  far  from  Shunem  (according  to  Hitz.,  in 
the  territory  of  Issichar,  the  tribe  of  Baasha?) 
may  have  had  some  influence,  since  Solomon  is 
elsewhere  particularly  fond  of  comparing  his  be- 
loved with  localities  in  the  region  of  her  home 
(iv.  I,  8,  11,  1.5;  vii.  5,  0).  Comp.  moreover  In- 
troduction, J  3,  Rem.  1. — The  site  of  ancient  Tir- 

figurative,  which  it  plainly  ia,  and  imputes  a  meaning  tu  ver. 
1  which  the  words  certainly  do  not  contain,  and  wliich  no  one 
wiio  was  not  pressed  by  the  exigencies  of  a  theory  would  ever 
imagine  that  he  found  tllere.  If  the  unsuccessful  search  for  her 
lover,  which  Shulamith  reports,  v.  U,  7,  was  only  a  troubled 
dream,  it  can  create  no  surprise  that  in  her  waking  moments 
stie  Icnows  and  is  able  to  state  in  the  general  whither  her 
Itetoved  had  gone,  even  if  she  were  not  certain  in  what  partic- 
ular spot  in  Ills  extensive  gardens  he  was  then  to  bo  found. 
'I'lie  allegorical  sense  commonly  put  upon  these  verses  will 
appear  sutliciently  from  the  following  citations  :  "Jerusalem 
bung  on  an  hill,  they  went  down  to  thegjvrdens;  so  Christ 
<Mme.s  down  from  heaven  spiritually  into  the  congregation." 
W,-:3TM[MSTER  AxNOl  \TI0NS.  "  The  garden  which  had  been  de- 
se.ribed  in  iv.  Vl — v.  1.  The  'garden'  refers  to  the  Christian 
body  in  its  unity,  the  "gardens'  denote  its  manifoldness ;  in 
the  New  Testament  we  read,  as  Theodoret  remarks,  alike  of 
tile  Church  and  of  the  churches.  Under  the  dispensation  of 
the  gospel,  no  less  than  under  that  of  the  older  covenant, 
niirist  nurtures  His  people  in  the  purity  of  holiness.  But  He 
now  not  only  feeds  His  flock  among  lilies,  but  also  gathers  li- 
lies; gathers  with  joy  and  acceptance  from  His  people  those 
fruits  of  holine-ss  which  through  the  grace  of  His  Spirit  they 
are  continually  bringing  forth."  Thrupp.— Tr.J 


zah  is  no  longer  accurately  known.  K.  Fubbeb, 
Wanderungen,  etc.,  p.  241,  thinks  that  he  saw  it 
not  far  from  Sichem  (to  the  north  of  it  and  due 
west  of  Samaria),  "on  a  charming  green  hill, 
part  of  which  has  a  very  steep  descent;"  but  he 
has  probably  taken  a  locality  considerably  to  the 
south  for  the  ruins  of  the  old  royal  city,  probably 
Thulluza  (three  hours  east  of  Shomron,  one  hour 
north  of  Mount  Ebal),  so  explained  also  by 
Robinson.  Comp.  Ueeot,  Paldstina,  p.  410;  L. 
Voelteb,  Art.  "Thirza,"  in  Zellek's  .SiA/.  Wor- 
terbuch,  and  Winee,  in  Realiviirlerbuch. — Jeremiah 
also  speaks  of  Jerusalem's  comeliness,  Lam.  ii. 
15. — Hengstenb.  makes  the  poet  rise  from  Tirzah 
to  Jerusalem  as  a  still  grander  city;  but  this  is 
contradicted  by  the  fact  that  the  predicate  iTSJ 
"comely,"  as  appears  from  i.  5  compared  with  i. 
8,  is  inferior  to  n3'  "fair." — Terrible  as  ban- 

TT 

nered   hosts. — D'X   from   the  same  stem  with 

T 

nO'X  "terror,"  is  used  Ilab.  i.  7  to  designate  the 
Chaldeans  as  a  dreadful  foe,  and  here,  therefore, 
can  only  designate  the  person  addressed  as  fear- 
ful, terrible,  as  is  especially  evident  from  the 
comparison  with  "armies  "  or  "  bannered  hosts." 
— But  why  is  Shulamith  here  said  to  be  "terrible 
as  bannered  hosts"  (which  is  only  further  un- 
folded in  what  follows,  "turn  away  thine  eyes 
from  me,  for  they  assault  mo")'?  Not  because 
she  was  to  be  represented  in  a  general  way  as 
triumphant  over  men,  whose  hearis  she  wounds 
and  captivates  by  her  glances,  (Gi:sen);  much 
more  likely,  because  she  has  exerted  upcm  Solo- 
mon in  particular,  her  ardent  lover,  a  fearful 
power  by  those  eyes  of  hers,  which  pierce  the 
heart  and  vanquish  all  resistance  (Ew.,  Dopke, 
Deufz^ch,  and  the  great  body  of  interpreters) ; 
but  most  likely  of  all  because  it  was  from  those 
marvellously  beautiful  eyes  a  grave  reproachful 
look  had  fiiUen  upon  him,  because  he  had  felt 
himself,  as  it  were,  called  to  account  and  chastised 
by  the  awe-inspiring  innocence  and  puriiy  of  her 
look.  Hitz.  is  substantially  correct,  only  he 
makes  the  "chastising  look"  proceed  from  Shu- 
lamith stiU  unmarried,  who  from  love  to  her 
young  shepherd  acts  coldly  towards  the  king  in 
his  addresses.  This  explanation  cannot  be  inval- 
idated by  the  fact  that  the  predicate  "terrible 
as  bannered  hosts  "  recurs  ver.  10  below,  as  the 
language  of  the  ladies  of  the  court,  quoted  by  So- 
lomon ;*  for  in  this  quotation  Solomon  uses  great 
freedom,  as  is  shown  by  the  extravagant  compar- 
isons with  the  sun,  moon,  and  dawn  of  the 
morning  (see  in  loc  ). 

Ver.  5.  Turn  away  thine  eyes  from  me, 
for  they  have  taken  me  by  storm. — by  this 
must  be  substantially  meant,  as  appears  from 
the  context,  an  influence  proceeding  from  Shula- 
mith's  serious  looks  to  the  heart  of  her  con- 
science-smitten husband,  by  which  he  was  awed 
and  abashed  (comp.  the  parallels  adduced  by 
Hitz.  from  the  Syr.  and  Arab,  for  the  sense  of 
terrifying),  not  the  exciting  of  love  to  a  passion- 

*  [This  can  scarcely  be  characterized  in  any  other  way  than 
as  carrying  a  theory  through  regardless  of  difficulties  which 
the  plain  words  of  the  te.\t  may  interpose.  The  expression 
"  terrible  as  armies  with  banners  "  cannot  mean  one  thing 
here  and  a  different  thing  in  ver.  10.  .\3  Good  correctly  re- 
marks :  "  The  artillery  of  the  eyes  is  an  idea  common  to  poets 
of  every  nation."  Comp.  Anacreon,  Od.  li.,  xvi.;  MU3.EU8, 
Uero  H  LeunUcr. — ^Tk,] 


110 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4 


ate  ardor  (Dopke),  nor  bewitching  (Vaihin- 
oer),  nor  manifesting  her  resistless  and  vic- 
torious power  over  her  lover  (Delitzsch),  etc. — 
Thy  hair  is  like  a  flock  of  goats,  etc. 
Comp.  iv.  1  b.  On  ver.  t>  comp.  iv.  li.  On  ver. 
7  comp.  iv.  3  b.  The  omission  in  this  passage* 
of  the  description  of  the  lips  and  tongue  con- 
tained in  iv.  3  a,  is  simply  to  be  explained  from 
the  abridged  character  of  the  present  delinea- 
tion, which  is,  as  it  were,  but  an  abstract  of  the 
preceding,  and  since  it  was  enough  simply  to 
remind  his  beloved  of  the  encomiums  passed 
upon  her  on  her  wedding  day,  might  fitly  be  re- 
stricted to  bare  hints  or  a  summary  recapitula- 
tion. The  opinion  of  Hengstenberg  and  Weiss 
BACH,  that  the  number  four  is  maintained  as 
characteristic  of  the  form  of  this  abridged  de- 
scription, as  the  number  ten  in  the  larger  one, 
imputes  too  whimsical  a  design  to  the  poet.  Far 
too  artificial  also  Hitzig:  The  omission  of  iv. 
3  a  is  to  intimate  "  a  brief  pause  "  in  the  vain 
endeavors  of  the  king  to  gain  over  the  coy 
Shulamilh,  whereupon  the  voluptuous  sensuali-st 
and  inconstant  "butterfly"  suddenly  breaks  off 
after  ver.  7,  bethinking  himself  that  there  are 
other  damsels  yet  {Uiud  ix.  395  f. ),  and  accord- 
ingly leaving  the  scene  with  the  words,  "  Well,  I 
have  sixty  queens  and  eighty  concubines,"  e(c  , 
to  make  love,  soon  after  (vii.  2  ff.)  to  another(!). 
Ver.  8.  There  are  sixty  queens  and 
eighty  concubines,  etc.  That  tliis  exclama- 
tion is  not  "uttered  aside,"  and  indicative  of 
the  sudden  breaking  of  the  thread  of  the  king's 
patience,  who  has  thus  far  been  vainly  laboring 
with  Shulamith  (according  to  Hitzig's  view,  just 
stated),  incontrovertibly  appears,  from  its  close 
connection  with  ver.  9,  which  nothing  but  the 
extreme  of  arbitrary  criticism  can  sunder  from 
it,  and  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  "  shepherd." 
Accordingly,  even  Renan  has  not  ventured  to 
approve  Hitzig's  separation  of  ver.  9  from  ver. 
8,  but  has  assigned  both  verses  to  the  shepherd, 
who  interrupts  the  king  by  singing  them  '-froni 
without!"  But  how  could  the  praise  of  the 
"  one  dove,"  the  "one  perfect,"  e^c,  contained 
in  ver.  9,  come  from  any  other  mouth  than  that 
which  uttered  the  encomium  upon  the  beauty  of 
the  king's  beloved,  beginning  ver.  4 1  And 
again,  how  else  could  the  way  be  prepared  for 
the  emphatic  declaration:  "  My  dove  is  one," 
etc.,  but  by  this  glance  at  the  great  number  of 
the  queens,  concubines  and  virgins,  who  were 
all  at  the  rich  king's  command,  but  .all  of  whotu 
he  was  ready  to  subordinate  to  that  one!  It  is 
plain  that  one  verse  here  sustains  the  other,  and 
they  are  all  to  ver.  10  inclusive  most  intimntely 
connected  together  like  links  in  a  chain,  which 
cannot  be  broken.  This  has  been  seen  by  the 
majority  even  of  the  advocates  of  the  shepherd- 
hypothesis,  without  their  finding  anything  better 
here  after  all  than  a  "last  violent  assault"  upon 
Shuliimith's  innocence  (Ew.),  or  a  "new  and 
heightened  piece  of  flattery"  (Vaih.),  or  a 
"thouglit  adapted  to  win  the  heart  and  ensnare 

*  At  least  according  to  the  Masoretic  text ;  tlioiigh  the 
fePTUAG.  insert  the  words  iv.  :l  a  ('£29  aTrapriov  kokklvov 
XeiAT)  o-ou,  «ol  >)  AaAia  trov  upaid)  here  too  in  their  iiroper 
place  (betwecm  vers.  6  and  7).  [But  gratuitous  insertions 
from  parallel  passages  are  too  frequent  in  the  Septuaoixt  to 
warrant  tho  suspicion  of  an  omission  from  the  currcntlji  re- 
ceived tcxtj. 


the  refined  feelings  of  Shulamith"  (Bottch.), 
etc.  On  the  relation  of  the  numbers  here  given, 
"sixty  queens"  and  "eighty  concubines"  of 
Solomon  to  the  seven  hundred  queens  and  three 
hundred  concubines,  as  stated  (1  Kin.  xi.  3,  see 
Introduc,  §  3,  p.  12).  The  passage  before  us 
evidently  contains  a  statement  referable  to  an 
earlier  period  in  Solomon's  life,  which  must  as 
surely  have  been  correct  for  some  fixed  point  of 
time  (which  it  is  true  cannot  now  be  accurately 
ascertained),  as  the  much  larger  numbers  of  the 
book  of  Kings  are  to  be  reckoned  historically  ac- 
curate for  Solomon's  latest  and  most  degenerate 
years.*  For  there  is  just  as  little  necessity 
really  for  discrediting  them  as  "  very  large 
statements  in  round  numbers"  (Hitzig),  as  there 
is  for  the  attempt  to  bring  out  an  approximate 
adjustment  with  the  lower  statements  of  this 
passage,  by  the  change  of  700  to  70,  and  of  300 
to  80  (comp.  Thenius  on  1  Kin.  in  loc).  The 
accounts  of  ancient  writers,  as  Plutarch 
(Artax.  c.  27),  CoRTius  (III.  3,  24),  Athen^os 
(Deipnos.  III.  1),  respecting  the  size  of  the 
h.arem  of  the  later  Persian  monarchs  (c.  g., 
Artaxerxes  Mnemon  had  360  TraX^aKiSer ;  Darius 
Codomannus  was  accompanied  by  300  pellices 
on  his  march  against  Alexander,  etc.)  are  analo- 
gies, which,  rightly  weighed,  make  rather  in 
favor  of  than  against  the  credibility  of  the  book 
of  Kings  in  this  matter.  And  although  the 
harems  of  modern  oriental  rulers  are  often  stated 
to  be  considerably  smaller,  so  that  e.  g..  Shah 
Sefi  of  Persia,  according  to  Olearius,  had  but 
three  wives  and  three  hundred  concubines.  Sul- 
tan Abdul  Medjid,  of  Constantinople,  something 
over  three  hundred  and  fifty  wives,  etc.,  these 
accounts  of  a  very  recent  period  prove  nothing 
respecting  the  customs  and  relations  of  a  hoary 
antiquity.  The  seven  hundred  and  three  hun- 
dred of  the  book  of  Kings,  as  well  as  the  sixty 
and  eighty  of  this  passage,  may  indeed  be  round 
numbers.  This  is  favored  to  some  extent  in  the 
former  case  by  the  circumstance  that  the  total 
amounts  to  precisely  one  thousand,  and  in  the 
latter  by  the  popular  and  proverbial  use  of  the 
numbers  six,  sixty  (comp.  Cic.  Verrin.  I.  c. 
125),  six  hundred  (Ex.  xiv.  7;  Judg.  xviii.  13; 
1  Sam.  xxvii.  2,  and  the  well-known  use  of  the 
lat.  sexcentij.  But  both  these  numerical  state- 
ments must  at  all  events  pass  for  approximately 
exact;  and  neither  the  hypothesis  that  1  Kings, 
loc.  cit.  states  the  entire  nutnber  of  all  the  wives, 
both  principal  and  subordinate,  that  Solomon 
had  in  succession  (so  e.  g.  Keil  in  loc),  nor  the 

*  [Westminster  Annotations:  "It  seems  that  Solomon 
writ  this  book  of  Canticles  before  he  had  his  full  number  of 
wives;  for  he  hiul  many  more  after."  Patrick  (followed  by 
Williams,  Scott  and  Henry)  supposes  allusion  not  to  Solo- 
mon's own  wives,  but  to  those  of  other  princes,  for  the  reason 
that  "  it  is  not  at  .all  likely  that  he  had  so  many  as  are  there 
mentioned,  while  his  mind  was  tilled  witli  such  divine  ra[i- 
tures  as  these."  Frt  fancies  th.at  he  finds  here  an  argument 
for  the  idyllic  hypothesis:  "The  passage  before  us  contains  a 
tacit  intim<ation  that  though  King  Solomon's  name  and  King 
Solomon's  pen  were  made  use  of  by  the  divine  Inspirer  of 
these  Canticles  to  construct  an  allegory  representative  of  the 
loves  of  Christ  and  His  Church,  very  different  loves  from 
those  of  Solomon  must  be  imagined  as  the  archetype,  even 
when  in  the  exterior  of  the  allegory,  circumstances  of  royalty 
and  cireumst-inces  connected  with  the  Israelitish  monarcti 
are  supposed.  And  it  is  for  the  same  reason  that  though 
King  Solomon  is  the  undoubted  author  of  these  songs,  he  so 
frequently  disrobes  himself  of  his  royal  character,  and  speaks 
in  the  person  of  a  shepherd,  or  leads  us  to  contemplate  soma 
faitliful  p.air  in  the  humbler  ranks  of  life"]. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


ill 


opinion  that  the  "virgins  without  number"  may 
afford  the  meaus  of  adjusting  the  difference  be- 
tween them,  seems  to  be  admissible.  Against 
the  latter  resource  even  Uitzig  remarks  :  "  The 
above  difference  cannot  be  reconciled  by  means 

of  the  r^nhy  virgins;   for  these  plainly  consti- 
tute a  thii-d  class,  and  one  outside  of  the  harem"  I 
— that  is  to  say,  merely  maids  of  the   court,  at-  , 
tendants  upon  the  harem,  whom  the  king,  if  he  j 
had  chosen,  might  likewise   have   exalted  to  be 
concubines.     On  Hengstknberg's  allegorical  ex-  j 
planation,  according  to   which  the    "household  i 
of  the  heavenly  Solomon"  is  here  depicted,  and 
consequently  sixty  and    eighty  =  one    hundred 
and  forty,  is  to  be  taken  as  a  mystical  number,* 
see  Introduction,  p.  ol. 
Ver.  9.    My   dove,   my  perfect   is    one, 

comp.  on  V.  2.  The  opinion  that  'HnX  "ray  sis- 
ter," which  stands  with  TCSn  "njT'  ••  my  dove, 
my  perfect"  in  the  parallel  passage  v.  2,  can  have 
influenced  the  selection  of  nnx  "one"  in  this 
place,  is  very  improbable  (vs  Weissb.). — The 
only  one  of  her  mother,  the  choice  one  of 
her  that  bare  her.  It  follows,  from  the  sub- 
sequent mention  of  Shulamith's  little  sister,  viii. 
8,  that  the  predicate  "only"  here  (as  in  Prov. 
iv.  3)  is  not  to  be  taken  literally,  but  in  the 
tropical  sense  of  "  incomparable."  On  the  com- 
bination of  "mother"  and  "she  that  bare  her," 
iii.  4,  viii.  •'>.  On  tlie  clause  generally,  Prov.  iv. 
3. — Daughters  sawr  her  and  called  her 
blessed,  queens  and  concubines  and  they 
praised  her.  On  the  sentence  comp.  Prov. 
ixxi.  28,  probably  a  free  imitation  of  this  pas- 
sage.    The   "daughters"    evidently   correspond 

to  the  Pini^  "virgins,"  ver.  8,  as  also  the 
"  queetjs  and  concubines"  of  that  verse  recur 
here,  that  they  may  expressly  subordinate  them- 
selves to  Sliulamith,  who  is  preferred  above 
them.  On  account  of  this  exact  correspondence 
between  this  clause  and  ver.  8,  it  is  incompre- 
hensible how  IIiTZ.  can  regard  ver.  9  as  spoken 
by  the  shepherd.  Whence  could  he  know  that 
Solomon's  queens  and  concubines  had  such  an 
opinion  of  Shulamith';  And  how  unnatural 
and  far-fetched  would  such  a  remark  about  the 
uniqueness  and  all -surpassing  loveliness  of  his 
beloved  appear  as  the  first  exclamation  of  the 
shepherd  immediately  upiin  his  coming  to  her! 
In  the  course  of  his  familiar  conversation  with 
her  he  might  appropriately  say  something  of  the 
sort,  but  not  as  the  first  word  of  his  salutation. 

*  [Thrupp  gives  a  different  view  from  the  aflegorical  stand- 
point: "As  regards  the  sixty  and  the  eighty,  we  have 
of  course  in  each  case  a  definite  number  for  an  indefinite. 
The  choice  of  the  particular  numbers  seems  to  tiave  been 
mainiy  dictated  by  a  studied  avoidance  of  the  numljer  seventy, 
to  wliich  a  certain  sacredness  and  completeness  would  have 
attached.  It  is  no  harmonious  coven.ant-relationship,  in 
which  the  queens  and  concubines  stand  to  (,'hrist;  all  is  with 
them  imperfect  and  wide  of  the  mark.  A  directly  opposite 
view  is  erroneously  taken  by  Hi^nostenbero."  Wordsworth 
exhibits  the  Archdeacon  of  Westminster  in  his  comment : 
'*  The  concubin'^s  are  more  numerous  than  the  queens.  May 
not  this  perhaps  signify  that  the  number  of  the  members  of 
sectarian  congregations  would  be  greater  than  that  of  the 
Church?"  He  had  before  remarked  upon  the  fourscore  con- 
cubines :  "  A  state  of  things  is  here  represented  when  schisms 
prevail  in  Christendom.  The  concubines  represent  Christiiin 
congregations  which  have  some  spiritual  gifts  and  graces,  but 
are  not  perfectly  joined  to  Christ  in  the  unity  of  the  {)n?  f  lith 
and  apostolic  fellowship  "j. 


Ver.  10.  'Who  is  this  that  looks  forth 
like  the  da'wn?  If  these  words,  like  the  ex- 
clamations iii.  b  and  viii.  5,  which  likewise  be- 
gin with  nXI""D  "  who  is  this,  "  had  really  been 
the  opening  of  a  new  scene  (as  Rosenm.,  Dopke, 
Heiligst.,  Del.,  Vaih.,  Weissb.,  etc.,  maintain, 
either  supposing  Solomon,  or  his  courtiers  and 
attendants,  or  the  ladies  of  the  court  to  be  the 
speakers)  they  would  have  been  preceded  by  a  con- 
cluding formula  like  iii.  5  and  vfii.  4.  Instead  of 
this  ver.  9  rather  required  to  be  further  explained 
and  supplemented  in  regard  to  Shulamith's  being 
praised  and  pronounced  blessed  by  Solomons 
wives ;   a  statement  was  still  needed  of  what  the 

"ItyX  'blessing'  and  ^'^H  -praising'  of  those 
women  amounted  to.  And  the  thing  of  all  others 
best  adapted  to  tliis  purpose,  was  a  mention  of 
that  admiring  praise,  which  according  to  iii.  G  ff. 
the  ladies  of  the  court  bestowed  upon  Shulamith 
on  her  entry  into  Zion  upon  her  wedding  day. 
To  this  panegyric,  of  which  he  must  have  had 
mediate  or  immediate  cognizance,  Solomon  here 
reters,  though  only  in  the  way  of  inexact  sug- 
gestion not  of  faithful  reproduction  (substan- 
tially correct  Ew.,  B.  HfBZEL,  BOTTCH.,  HiTZ.  ).^ 
nSptyjn  lit.  "looking  down,  gazing  down" 
from  a  high  position  :  comp.  '^pV  in  Judg.  v. 
28:  Ps.  xiv.  2;  liii.  3;  cii.  20;  Lam.  iii.  50. 
Reference  is  thus  made  to  the  proniineul  or  ex- 
alted place  occupied  by  Shulamith  in  the  world 
of  women.  She  outshines  all  others  like  the 
early  dawn,  which  looks  from  heaven  over  the 
mountains  down  to  the  earth.  Yes,  like  the  sun 
and  moon  1  Dawn,  moon  and  sun  are  here,  there- 
fore, personified  as  it  were,  like  the  sun  in  i.  6 
above.  Fair  as  the  moon,  pure  as  the  sun. 
iTIS  here  equivalent  to  spotless,  bright-shining, 
comp.  Ps.  six.  9;  and  on  the  silvery  moon  as  an 
image  of  superior  purity  and  beauty  Job  xxv.  !j; 
xxxi.  20.  Arabic  poets  also  sometimes  compare 
female  beauty  with  the  brightness  of  the  moon 
e.  ff.  Hamas  I  (ed.  ScnrLTENs,  p.  483.)  "Then 
Lamisa  appeared  like  the  moon  of  heaven  when 
it  shines;"  Motanebbi  (Translation  by  Von 
1IAM.MER,  p.  29,  42,  etc.  )  and  others,  comp. 
DopiCE  and  M.\gn.  in  loc.)*     The  poetic  expres 

sions  n337   "  white"  and  TTSn   "hot"  for  moon 

tt:  t  _ 

and  sun,  which  are  again  combined  in  Isa.  xxiv. 
23,  are  particularly  suited  for  the  comparison, 
because  they  .ire  both  feminine  and  alike  indica- 
tive of  white  and  blazing  radiance. — Terrible 
as  bannered  hosts.  This  concluding  simile 
points  to  the  identity  of  the  person  intended  with 
the  one  described  in  ver.  4,  and  at  the  same  time 
testifies  to  the  identity  of  the  speaker  and  against 
the  sundering  of  this  verse  from  the  preceding.! 
7.  Continuation,      b.    Shulamith    and    thr 

LADIES  OF  THE  COURT,  VI.  11 — VII.  1. 

*  Here  too  belong  the  verses  rromTH':0CRlTUs,  Td.  xviii.  2fi  ff. 
*•  'Ai)?    ai'TtAAoiffa   icttAiji'  Sieifiaire   rrpoiTtuiTOV, 
noTi'ia  yi'$  are,  Aev<oi'  eap  ^'^ztlivoi  at-efTOs, 
'06e  Kai   a  j^pvaia  'EAfl-a  6te(fiatVeT'   iv  a/itl-." 
■f  [Dow AT  note:  "Here  is  a  beautiful  metaphor  describing 
the  church  from  the  beginning.     'As  the   morning  rising,' 
signifying  the  church  before  the  written  Law;  'fair  as  the 
moon?  showing  her  under  the  written  law  of  Moses ;   '  brigfit 
as  the  sun,'  under  the  light  of  the  gospel:  and  'terrible  as  an 
army,"  the  power  of  Christ's  church  against  its  enemies."] 


Hi 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4 


Some  recent  commentators  take  this  particu- 
l.irly  difficult  little  section  to  be  a  narration  by 
tSliulamith  of  something  which  she  had  previously 
experienced,  in  which  she  also  repeats  the  hin- 
gujige  of  others  to  her,  together  with  her  answer 
(HiTZ.,  Meikr,  f/c);  Naegelsb.  (in  Ruuter's /iJc- 
pfrt.  1852,  No.  10)  on  the  contrary  regards  it  as  a 
reverie  of  Shulaiuitli,  in  which  she  foreshadows 
to  herself  her  reception  hy  her  country  friends 
on  her  expected  return  to  them;  Ew.  (and  IIah.n) 
a  continuation  of  the  discourse  of  Solomon,  in 
which  a  colloquy  between  Sliulamith  and  tlie 
ladies  of  the  royal  court  is  repeated;  the  majori- 
ty of  both  the  older  and  the  later  expositors, 
however,  make  of  it  an  independent  dialogue  be- 
tween Shulamith  and  the  "daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem," in  which  the  verses  vi.  11,  12  together 
with  the  words  "  what  do  you  see  in  Shulamith  " 
in  vii.  1  are  assigned  to  the  former,  and  the  re- 
uniinder  of  vii.  1,  to  the  latter.  This  last  under- 
.standing  of  it  is  the  only  one  which  avoids  the 
ni;inifold  difficulties  and  forced  explanations  wirh 
which  each  of  those  previously  mentioneil  is 
chargeable. 

Ver.  11.  To  the  nut-garden  I  ^rent  do^n. 
According  to  tbe  various  interpretations  put 
upon  the  entire  section,  these  words  are  thought 
lij  contain  either  1)  Shulamith's  answer  to  wliat 
is  supposed  to  be  the  wondering  question  of  the 
ladies  of  the  court  in  ver.  10  (so  Del.  and  Weissb.: 
she  slates  to  her  noble  auditors  in  these  words 
not  so  much  who  she  is,  as  why  she  had  come 
down  to  the  king's  garden) ;  or  2)  the  beginning 
ot  an  account  of  what  happened  to  her  on  the  oc- 
casion of  her  being  first  brought  to  the  king's 
court  (Ew.,  Umbr.,  Hitz.,  V.^ih.,  BiixTCH.,  Ren. 
etc. — all  agreeing  in  this  that  Shulamith  here  be- 
gins to  tell  the  story  of  her  former  "abduction" 
to  the  king's  harem);  or  3)  the  beginning  of  a 
dreamy  description  of  what  Shulamith  would  do 
after  her  return  home  (Naegelsb.  loc.  cil.)  or  4) 
tiie  beginni!ig  of  a  st.atemeQt  of  the  way  in  which 
tlio  daughter  of  Zion  attained  the  high  dignity 
wliicli  the  words  of  the  heavenly  Solomon  had 
ascribed  to  her,  especially  in  vers.  9  and  10, 
(  IIengste.nb.)  ;  or.'))  the  beginning  of  a  recital 
by  Solomon,  in  which  he  prophetically  depicts 
the  process  of  the  conversion  of  the  gentiles  to 
tlie  God  of  Israel  (Hahn)  etc.  We  hold  that  of 
these  views  the  second  comes  nearest  to  the  true 
sense  of  the  poet,  but  prefer  to  find  in  the  words 
instead  of  a  statement  of  what  Shulamith  was 
lioing  at  the  precise  moment  of  her  "abduction," 
a  description  of  what  she  was-  ia  the  habit  of 
doing  before  she  came  to  the  royal  court.  We 
iiccordingly  take 'HIT''  neither  as  pluperf.  ("I 
liad  gone  down"),  nor  as  a  proper  perfect,  nor 
as  an  aorist,  but  as  a  statement  of  an  action  fre- 
quently repeated  in  the  past,  a  customary  action, 
in  which  sense  though  it  elsewhere  belongs 
rather  to  the  future,  the  perfect  is  sometimes 
used  in  the  0.  T  (e.  g.  2  Sam.  i.  22,)  comp.  Ew. 
Lehrh.  §  136,  c. — If,  therefore,  Shulamith  com- 
mences in  this  way  to  describe  her  rural  occupa- 
tions prior  to  her  exaltation  as  queen,  stie  tliere- 
by  gives  her  husband  plainly  enough  to  under- 
stand that  he  has  in  no  wise  satisfied  her  by  his 
entliuaiastic  laudations  and  admiringdeclarations 
of  love,  but  that  she  now  longed  more  than  ever 
to  get  away  from  his  voluptuous  court  and  irom 


the  vicinity  of  his  sixty  queens  and  eighty  concu- 
bines to  the  green  little  nut  garden,  the  fresh 
valleys  and  the  lovely  vineyards  in  the  region  of 
her  home. — liJX  njj  denotes  according  to  all 
the  versions  as  well  as  to  ancient  Talmudic  tra- 
dition a  "nut  garden,"  a  meaning  for  which 
there  is  the  less  need  to  substitute  "kitchen- 
herb  or  vegetable  garden"  (with  Hitz.)  since 
tUS  is  doubtless  the  same  word  with  the  Pers. 
ghuz  and  Josephos  Bell.  Jud.  III.  10,  8,  ex- 
pressly testifies  to  the  occurrence  of  nut-trees  in 
the  region  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  not  far  conse- 
quently from  Shulamith's  home.  The  nut-garden 
here  mentioned  is  to  be  sought  in  thii  her  native 
region  .and  not  in  the  neighborhood  of  .Jerusalem 
or  within  the  range  of  the  king's  gardens.  It 
can  scarcely  be  different  from  the  vineyards  and 
orchards  described  vii.  13  ff.  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  house  of  Shulamith's  mother. — 
To  look  at  the  shrubs  of  the  valley,  elc. 
The  garden  itself  probably  lay  likewise  in  this 
valley-bottom,  or  at  all  events  considerably  lower 
tlian  Shulamith's  residence  (hence  T^'  "went 
down").      "Shrubs"  or  "green"  of  the  valley 

(  7ri3ri  '3X)  probably  denotes  whatever  verdure 
sprouted  up  in  the  place  where  the  water  of  the 
Wady  had  run  off,  less  likely  the  green  of  proper 
water-plants  (Job  viii.  12).  On  the  combination 
of  verdure  or  shrubs,  vines  and  pomegranates 
comp.  ii.  12,  f.  the  like  juxtaposition  of  flowers, 
fig  trees  and  Tines.  3  nxi  "to  look  at  anything" 
denotes,  as  it  invariably  does,  tbe  pleased, 
gratified  contemplation  of  an  object  (comp.  Ps. 
xxvii.  4,  Ixiii.  3;  Mic.  iv.  11,  etc.)  not  the  busy 
looking  for  something,  for  which  latter  sense 
not  even  Gen.  xxxiv.  1  can  be  adduced  (vs. 
Hitz). 

Ver.  12.  I  kne'witnot,  my  desire  brought 
me,  etc.  Tlie  thing  intended  is  scarcely  her  "  de- 
sire to  walk  out  in  tlie  open  air"  (Ew.),  or  her 
"  curiosity  "  (Vaih.);  or  her  "wish  to  sec  the  vine 
sprout"  (HiTziG),  but  much  more  probably  her 
desire  to  belong  to  her  royal  lover,  her  longing 
to  be  wholly  and  for  ever  her  beloved's.  When 
and  how  this  desire  was  first  awakened  in  her, 
she  does  not  here  state;  she  had  given  utterance 
to  this  in  another  plnce,  see  ii.  8-17.  In  the 
passage  before  us  she  simply  assumes  the  ex- 
istence of  her  desire  and  longing  for  her  lover, 
and  only  tells  how  little  .she  knew  or  imagined  in 
the  midst  of  those  rural  occupations  of  hers  (ver. 
11)  that  she  was  exalted  by  it  "to  the  chariots 
of  lier  people,  the  noble,"  in  other  words,  how 
little  she  suspected  beforehand  that  her  lover 
was  the  king,  the  ruler  of  all  Israel. — To  the 
chariots  of  my  people,  the  noble.  ri'i33"tD 
strictly  denotes  merely  "wagons,"  but  here,  like 
the  combination  "horses  and  chariots"  in  other 
passages  (Di'ut.  xx.  1  ;  Isa.  xxxi.  1 ;  Ps.  xx.  8) 
seems  to  express  the  idea  of  the  full  display  of 
the  power  and  pomp  of  the  kingdom,  but  without 
!  suggesting  anything  of  a  military  nature,  so  that 
I  as  in  1  Sam.  viii.  11  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  1  we  are  to 
think  chiefly  of  state  carriages  in  the  festive  pro- 
cessions of  the  king  and  his  court.  Being  trans- 
ferred nr  promoted  to  these  chariots  of  slate 
would  accordingly  be  lunlamouni  to  el:;valion   lu 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


113 


royal  dignity  and  glory,  of  which  the  analogy  of  |  noble  people  "  remains  obscure  and  ambiguous 
Joseph  in  Egypt  is  an  instructive  instance,  Gen.  i  enough,  and  we  can  either  assume  that  the  "  no- 
xli.   43  ff.     So  far  as  the  language  is  concerned,  |  ble  people  "or  "  noble  folk  "   "  Eddvolk"  (Ew. ) 


there  is  no  special  objection  to  this  interpretation 
The  connection  of  the  accusative  nUJTO  wiih 
(he  verb  D'ly  without  a  preposition  most  probably 
expresses  the  idea  of  "removing  or  bringing  in  the 
direction  (cornp,  Isa.  xl.  '1*\\  Dan.  xi.  2:  or  intothe 
vicinity  of  sonipihing."  (couip.  Judg.xi.  29};  this 
is  the  case  not  merely  with  verbs  denoting  motion, 
but  with  all  possible  verbal  ideas  (see  numerous 
examples  in  Ew.,  ^  281.  d).  UW  is  often  elsewhere 
synonymous  with  K'3n  "to  bring  or  conduct  to 
any  place  "  {comp.  Gen.  ii.  8)  and  so  HUSTO  QW 
ni;iy  very  readily  mean:  "  to  bring  to  the  chariots, 


was  intended  to  denote  the  noble  extraction  of 

Israel,  or  the  courtiers  of  Solomon,  or  tlie  wholu 

people  as  represented  in  the  person  of  its  prince 

(so   substantially    Del.,    comp.    Vaiu.).     In   all 

:  which,  however,  it  still  remains  a  question  why 

1  the    poet    did   not   make  Shulamith   speak  in  so 

j  many  terms  of  her  elevation  lo  the  chariot  or  to 

i  the  throne  of  her  prince. — To  complete  as  far  as 

possible  our  enumeration  of  all  that  interpreters 

'  have  made  out    of    the  crux   before  us,   Weiss- 

B.\cus  view  of  this  verse  may  here  be  stated  iu 

I  conclusion.     According  to  it   "the  words  of  ver. 


12  in  the  mouth  of  the  person,  who  had  proposed 
to  transfer,  exalt  into  the  sphere  or  region  of  the  the  question  ver.  \0  (viz.,  a  courtier,  who  had 
cli.ariots  " — a  meaning  which  is  at  all  events  more  gazed  with  astonishment  upon  Sbulamilh  in  the 
obvious  than  the  rendering  "to   set  me   on  the    garden)   mean;   I  asked    the  question  because  I 


chariots''  (Syb.,  Del.,  etc.)  ;  or  than  the  expla- 
nation of  Velth.,  Gese.n.,  Ew.,  Bottcu.,  Hitz., 
Hen.,  etc.:  "  made  me  happen  among  the  chariots  " 
ii>/s.,  of  the  royal  retinue);  or  than  the  strange 
rendering  of  the  VuLo,  which  probably  presup- 
poses the  reading  'Jill'?  instead  of  'iT\'^'C!  "con- 
turbavit  me  propter  quadriijas,"  etc. ;  or  finally  than 
construing  Hl^JTO  as  a  second  object,  either  in 
the  sense  of  "making  me  or  converting  mc  into 


did  uoi  know  that  this  brilliant  and  majestic 
spectacle  was  you;  I  had  rather  supposed  that  I 
saw  the  prince's  army  chariots  before  me !" — 
H.^u.N,  too,  thinks  that  the  speaker  of  these  words 
is  not  Shulamith  but  Solomon,  who  thus  relates 
how,  when  filled  with  longing  desire  for  a  re- 
union with  Japhetic  gentihsm.  his  soul  suddenly 
and  insensibly  set  him  "on  the  chariots  of  his 
people  as  a  prince."* 
Chap.  7,  Ver.  I.  Come  back,  come  back, 


chariots,"  i.e.,  "  a  princess  "  (UMBR.)or  "  a  de- '  Shulamith,  etc.  As  according  to  our  under- 
fence  "  (He.vgstenb.)  ;  or  "making  like  chariots,  :  standing  of  vers.  11  and  12  Shulamith  expresses 
i.e.,  as  swift  as  chariots"  (Rose.nm.,  Magn.,  |  in  them  her  longing  for  the  simpler  circum- 
Dopke).  Since  no  one  of  these  constructions  ap- j  stances  of  her  native  region  and  speaks  of  her 
pears  to  be  better  established  in  point  of  Ian-  elevation  to  the  king's  throne  as  a  distinction, 
guage  than  ours,  while  this  latter  undoubtedly  I  which  came  to  her  without  her  ktiowledge,  ami 
yields  a  less  forced  and  more  attractive  thought,  '  contrary  to  her  expectation,  nothing  is  more 
we  might  with  all  confidence  declare  it  to  be  the  I  natural  than  to  conceive  that  she  spoke  this 
only  one  that  was  admissible,  if  it  were  not  that  i  in  a  saddened  and  painfully  excited  mood,  and 
the  difficult  limiting  genitive  i'^J  '3.^   "of  my  i  

people,  the  noble,"  involves  the  real  meaning  of        *  [Tlie  simplest  and  most  natural  explanation  of  these  worda 

°  I  tinds  in  them,  as  it  is  expressed  by  M  oRiiswoRTH:  "the  cheerful 

ni33TD  and  consequently  of  the  entire  passage  i  alacrity  and  fervent  affection  of  the  bride  flying  on  the  wings 

■   ■",  ..      .1.    .  1     L       ,  1  ioflove"  to  the  bridetn-oom.    Moody  Stuart:   "Inamoment 

in  an  obscurity  that  can  scarcely  be  cleared  up.  |  her  soul  is  carried  a«ay  directly,  irresistibly,  rapidly  toward 


The  translation  "  chariots  of  my  people,  the  no- 
ble," or  "  chariots  of  my  r.oble  people,"  is  on 
the  whole  the  most  satisfactory  (the  absence  of 
the  article  before  the  adjective  is  of  no  conse- 
iiuence,  comp.  Gen.  xliii.  14;  Ps.  cxliii.  10 
[Green's    Heb.    Gram.,    J  249,  1,  b]).       The   re- 


her  bridegroom  and  her  king."  "WiTHrNGTON  thus  par.i- 
phrases  :  "I  went  into  the  garden ;  I  walked  among  its  shades; 
I  sur\"eyed  its  beauties;  I  remembered  the  owner,  and  my  soul 
melted  with  rapture  and  love."  Patrick  makes  a  somewhnt 
different  application ;  "  The  meaning  of  this  verse  seems  to  be 
that  the  spouse  hearing  such  high  commendations  of  herself, 
both  from  the  bridegroom  and  from  the  pei-sons  mentioned, 
ver.  10,  with  great  humility  saith,  that  she  wrs  not  conscious 


suiting  sense  cannot  thrn  be  materially  different  |  to  herself  of  such  perfections  (I  did  not  know  it, or  I  did 
from  that   of  QV  'nj   "nobles    of   the  people"  I  ""'  ;'^'°''  !")•  *>"'  '"  excited  thereby  to  inake  the  greatest 

-      ■•    ■  :  ^      *  I  speed  to  endeavor  to  preserve  this  character  he  had  given  her. 

Ps.  cxiii.  8  or  D^n  '■'J  Num.  xxi.  18  (comp.  D'3J^  '^^  i  Percy  and  Good  understand  it  of  the  bride's  hesitation  aud  ir- 
T»      _!_:;     ^  f\\     ^  ^,    '    •,,  ,.       1  ..        .".,"!  resolution  after  she  had  promised  to  meet  her  beloved  in  th  ' 

garden.  The  latter  states  its  meaning  thus :  "I  was  not  aware 
of  the  timidity  of  my  mind,  which  hurried  me  away  from  my 
engagement,  when  in  the  very  act  of  adhering  to  it,  with  the 
rapidity  of  the  chariot  of  Amminadib."  Thrupp  on  tlie  basis  of 
2  Kings  ii.  12  ;  xiii.  1-1:  "The  church  had  unconsciously  and 
unexpectedly  become  the  source  and  channel  of  victorious 
might  to  all  the  willing  people  of  (tod.  '  My  soul.'  she  says, 
*  had  made  me.'  It  is  the  unshrinking  and  devoted  zeal  with 
which  the  church  prosecutes  the  task  set  before  her  that 
makes  her  the  rallying  point  for  all  who  would  join  in  tho 
service  of  her  Lord."  Others  attribute  this  language  to  the 
bridegroom.  ThusTwLORand  Williams  :  "  The  affections  of 
the  prince  carried  him  to  meet  his  love  with  the  rapidity  of 
a  chariot."  Burrowes.  as  ScoTT  and  Uexry,  finds  in  vers.  Il- 
ia a  statement  of  the  feelings  of  the  bridegroom  during  his 
temporary  withdrawal.  When  he  left  his  spouse,  v.  6,  it  was 
"  only  to  withdraw  to  his  favorite  place  of  resort  in  the  gar- 
den;"  where  "almost  unconsciously,  ere  he  was  aware,  his 
soul  was  filled  with  the  desire  of  meeting  her  again,  a  desirw 
so  strong  that  it  would  have  carried  him  to  her  arms  with 
the  swiftness  of  the  chariot  of  Amminadib."  It  is  character- 
istic of  Gill's  exposition  that  in  commenting  on  ver.  11  h* 
proposes  the  question.  Why  are  believers  like  nuts  ?  and  an- 
swers it  under  ten  heads.] 


Ps.  xlvii.  10)  and  will  accordingly  refer  to  the 
noble  countrymen  of  Shulamith,  to  the  proceres 
s'u  optimntes  (jentis  suie ;  for  the  explanation  "  war- 
chariots  of  the  people  of  the  prince"  (Weissb.) 
certainly  has  as  much  against  it  as  the  opinion 
that  y)i  'cl,J,'  is  one  noun,  either  equivalent  1 1 
"prince  of  the  realm"  (Vaih.)  or  =  the  well- 
known  proper  name  .-Vmniinadab  (Ex.  vi.  23; 
Num.  i,  7;  Ruth  iv.  19;  1  Chron.  ii.  10;  vi.  7, 
etc.).  This  last  expedient,  manifestly  the  most 
confusing  of  all,  was  .already  tried  by  the  Sept., 
SvMMACH  .  VuLO.,  LtiTHER  (who  has  .\mminadib 
instead  of  Amniinadab),  and  after  them  by  most 
of  the  older  interpreters,  especially  the  alle- 
gorizers,  with  whom  it  was,  so  to  speak,  a  fixed 
dogma  that  Amminadab  means  the  devil  !  l$ut 
even  if  we  shun  such  devious  ways,  the  sense  of 
the  expression  "  transferred  to  the  chariots  of  my 


114 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


to  conjecture  that  her  strong  and  painful  feeling 
of  home-sickness  would  be  accompanied  by  a 
corresponding  gesture.  This  gesture  we  must 
unquestionably  suppose  from  the  earnest  and 
repeated  call  addressed  to  her  by  the  ladies  of 
the  court  "come  back,  turn  back"  ('3'i?  '^Ijy 
comp.  Judg.  V.  12)  was  that  of  intending  to  go 
away,  to  escape  from  the  vicinity  of  the  vicious 
court  of  the  king,  which  had  become  offensive 
to  her.  She  does  not  purpose  to  withdraw  from 
the  "  king's  garden"  (Dopke,  Delitzsch,  etc.), 
in  which  besides  she  could  scarcely  have  been 
at  the  time,  but  from  the  vicinity  of  the  king 
altogether,  who  had  greatly  grieved  her,  and 
that  of  the  ladies  of  his  court,  whose  society  she 
feels  that  she  must  henceforth  avoid.  Hence  it 
is  that  the  latter  (for  it  is  to  them  that  Shula- 
mith's  answer  "  what  do  you  see  in  Shulamith  ?" 
is  directed)  call  to  her,  entreating  her  to  turn 
again  and  permit  them  still  to  look  upon  her 
charming  person.  For  this  is  the  only  sense  in 
which  ^3   ninji  "  that  we  may  look  upon  thee  " 

(3   nin    not   materially   different   from    3   HXl 
:       T  T  ''  :        T  T 

vi.  11)  can  be  taken.  d(Z.;  that  of  beholding  with 
delight,  feasting  the  eyes  upon  her  to  whom  they 
had  long  before  accorded  the  praise  of  beauty 
(comp.  their  frequtnt  form  of  address,  "  fairest 
among  women,"  i.  8;  v.  9;  vi.  1).  That  it  is 
the  ladies  of  the  court,  who  address  to  her  this 
summons  to  return  and  remain,  and  not  Solo- 
mon (whom  many  of  the  older  commentators 
regard  as  the  speaker  in  these  words,  see 
Starke),  is  either  to  be  explained  by  Solomon's 
uniting  in  the  call  of  the  women  (comp.  Dopke, 
EwALU,  etc.),  or  better  still  by  the  assumption 
that  he  who  was  more  affected  than  all  others  by 
her  attempt  to  go  away,  does  more  than  barely  call 
her  back,  he  seeks  by  loving  force  to  detain  her; 
and  hence,  speechless  with  passionate  emotion, 
he  first  embraces  and  holds  her,  that  he  may 
afterwards  fetter  her  by  the  fondest  adulation* 
(ver.  2if. ). — What  do  you  see  in  Shula- 
mith? This  question  asked  by  the  party  ad- 
dressed is  doubtless  to  be  understood  as  modestly 
declining  the  praise  indirectly  bestowed  upon 
her  beauty  in  thus  calling  her.  Shulamiih 
wishes  to  be  no  longer  looked  at  and  admired  by 
such  people  as  Solomon's  concubines  and  the 
ladies  of  his  court ;  this  has  become  oppressive 
to  her.  The  humility  of  her  entire  question 
certainly  characterizes   also  her  designation   of 

*  [Thf  alirnptness  witti  which  this  verse  is  introduceil  and 
the  amlii^liiity  "f  some  of  its  expressions  make  its  meaning 
extrem'-ly  il'iul'tfiil  and  have  led  to  a  variety  of  uncerUain 
conjectnre!!,  Itut  do  not  justify  tlie  acceptance  of  the  incredi- 
ble sense  here  put  upon  it.  According  to  the  view  which  is 
entertained  of  tlie  context  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  the  bride,  wlio  was  rising  to  leave  the  speakers 
(Tavlob).  or  had  been  borne  away  from  them  by  her  inward 
rapture  figuratively  described  in  the  preceding  verse  fMooDY 
Stuart),  or  who  had  parted  from  them  in  company  with  her 
husband  (Patrick),  or  who  was  tmiidly  shrinking  from  meet- 
ing him  (Williams.  Good,  the  latter  of  whom  renders  thus  : 
"Virgins. — 'Return,  return,  0  bride  of  Solomon!  Return, 
return,  that  we  may  yet  respect  thee."  Royal  Bride.—'  What 
do  yon  expect  from  the  bride  of  Solomon  V  Virgins. — '  For- 
titude, like  the  conflict  of  two  armies  '  ").  Or  it  is  thought  to 
be  a  call  upon  the  bride  to  return  from  her  alienation  to  her 
busband  (.\i\swnKTri,  BuRROWES,  as  well  as  Wordsworth, 
who  thinks  tliul  lli-  iteration  of  the  appeal  denotes  a  sum- 
mons "  to  both  .lew  and  Gentile  to  return  to  God  and  to  one 
another  in  Christ  and  ills  Church"),  or  to  return  in  peace  from 
victorious  conflict  (TuRUPP,  who  compares  Josh.  x.  lil ;  Judg. 
TJii.  9  ;  xl.  31  1  1  Kin.  xxu.  28).— Tk.] 


herself  n''?D'?1ty3  (lit.,  "in  the  Shulamitcss,"  i.  e. 
not  "in  this  Shulamitess"  but  "in  one  who  is 
a  Shulamitess;  "  comp.  1  Kin.  xx.  36:  Isa.  vii. 
14;  Joel  iv.  3,  etc.).  Its  meaning  is  certainly  no 
other  than  "  why  do  you  look  at  me,  a  plain 
country  girl  (Hitzig)?  what  you  see  in  the 
simple  daughter  of  a  Galilean  village  ?"  n''S^»E^n 
is,  as  the  article  shows  both  here  and  where  it 
was  used  in  the  vocative,  certainly  not  the  pro- 
per name  of  a  person  (so  most  of  the  ancient 
versions  and  interpreters) ;  no  more  is  it  an  adjec- 
tive meaning  "favored,  treated  with  kindness" 
(  Weissb.),  but  a  gentile  noun,  synonymous  with 
n'SJISn  1  Kin.  i.  3;  2  Kin.  iv.  12,  25,  of  which 
it  is  only  a  dialectic  variation ;  it  is  accordingly 
a  designation    of  the    person    in    question   from 

dV-J  or  DJlty,  the  place  of  her  abode.*  This 
place,  the  XoiOJ/u  of  Ecsebics  and  Jero.me  in 
liis  Onoma.ll.  and  the  modern  Sulam  appears  to 
have   received   its   name,   which  originally   may 

have  been  =  D7D  "ladder,"  on   account  of  its 

T  -. 

location  on  a  steep  mountain  declivity  (comp. 
Robinson,  Pal.  II.  234),  just  as  many  other 
mountains,  e.^.  that  mentioned  1  Mac.  xi.  59  bear 
the  name  KA/^af  (comp.  Hitzig  in  loc.  and  "  Ut- 
geschichte  der  Philisler,"  p.  126).  According  to 
Josh.  xix.  18  this  Sbunem  was  situated  in  the 
tribe  of  Issachar,  according  to  1  Sam.  xxviii.  4; 
xxix.  1,11:  xxxi.  1  not  far  from  Mount  Gilboa  and 
the  plain  of  Jezreel,  according  to  2  Kin.  iv.  22-25 
not  very  remote  from  Mount  Carmel  (comp.  on 
ver.  6  of  this  chapter,  and  above  on  ii.  8;  iii.  6  ; 
iv.  1,  8  ;  also  the  Introduction,  p.  6).  As  the 
dance  of  Mahanaim.  Some  interpreters  after 
the  example  of  the  Vulg.  ("  quid  videbis  in  Sula- 
mite,  nisi  choros  castrorum?'')  connect  the  difficult 

words  Q'^n'Sn  rnr\^2  with  the  question  "  why 
will  ye  look  upon  Shulamith,  as  one  looks  upon 
the  dance  of  Mahanaim?"  (Hahn,  Weissb., 
Ren  AN,  etc.,)  or  "  as  at  the  dance  of  M."  (Hitzig). 
But  it  seems  more  natural  and  bstter  suited  to 
the  context  with  the  majority  of  both  the  older 
and  more  recent  commentators,  to  regard  these 
words  as  the  answer  to  the  question  of  Shula- 
mith, given  of  course  by  those  who  had  asked  her 
to  return,  and  who  take  this  mode  of  stating  why 
they  were  in  fact  so  much  concerned  to  see  Shu- 
lamith yet  longer.  They  see  in  her  "something 
that  resembles  the  dance  of  Mahanaim,"  some- 
thing as  magnificent  and  transporting  as  the 
dance  of  the    angel-host,  east   of  the  Jordan   on 

*[The  article  as  well  as  the  form  of  the  noun  certainly 
favor  its  derivation  from  the  place  of  her  birth  or  resi- 
dence. The  chief  objections  to  it  are,  first  that  Shunem  it 
never  called  Shulem  in  the  Bible  but  always  Shunem  and 
its  inhabitants  Slmnammites  ;  and  secondly,  the  bride  is  c.illed 
a  prince's  daughter,  vii.  '2.  The  derivation  from  Solomon  (to 
which  Clarke  compares  Charlotte  from  Charles,  Henrietta 
from  Henry,  efc).  is  favored  by  most  English  commentatons. 
and  still  divides  the  suffrages  of  the  learned,  though  it  does 
not  siitisfactorily  account  for  the  form  of  the  name  nor  ex- 
plain the  presence  of  the  article.  Its  derivation  from  Salem 
in  the  sense  of  Jerusalem,  as  though  it  were  equivalent  to 
Jerusalemite,  as  Gill  and  others  suggest  after  KiMCHi  and 
Aden  Ezra  is  utterly  inadmissible.  Others  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  Aquila  (eipTjj-euovera)  and  attribute  to  it  an  appel- 
lative sense  as  derived  from  the  root  D7iy:  so  Patrick: 
"  perfect,"  and  TnRUPP  :  "The  peace-laden,  lit.,  the  bepeaced. 
The  name  is  derived  from  the  same  root  as  Solomon  and 
stands  in  partial  correspondence  with  it." — TR.j 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


lis 


Jacob's  return  home  to  the  promised  land.  See 
Gen.  xxxii.  1-3,  to  which  passage  there  is  an  un- 
mistakable allusion  here  as  DiiPKE,  Delitzsch, 
Henostenb.,  Meier,  elc,  correctly  assume.  This 
occurrence  in  the  early  patriarchal  history  as 
celebrated  as  Jacob's  wrestling  at  Peniel  (Gen. 
xxxii.  28,  comp.  Hos.  xii.  4  if. ),  this  miraculous 
experience  of  the  patriarch  Jacob,  to  which  the 
town  of  Mahanaim  between  Jabbok  and  the  Jor- 
dan, the  royal  residence  of  the  anti-Davidic 
northern  kingdom  under  Ishbosheth  (2  Sam.  ii.  8 
S.)  owed  its  name,  forms  here  the  point  of  com- 
parison and  is  evidently  intended  to  represent  tlie 
sight  of  Shulamith  as  of  angelic  beauly  and 
heavenly  sublimity,  just  as  she  had  before  been 
compared  with  the  morning  dawn,  the  sun  and 
moon  {vi.  10),  and  in  agreement  with  the  fact  that 
in  other  p.assnges  dances  in  praise  of  God  arc 
attributed  both  to  the  stars  and  to  the  angels  of 
God  (comp.  Job  xxxviii.  7  :  Judg.  v.  20 ;  Ps.  ciii. 
21;  cxlviii.  2;  1  Kings  xxii.  19 ;  Luke  ii.  13,  f(c ). 
The  "dance  of  Mahanaim"  is  accordingly  the 
well-known  dance  of  the  angels  on  the  site  where 
Mahanaim  subseqni'nlly  stood.  It  is  not  iieces- 
Bary  to  take  D'in'Sri  in  its  appellative  sense 
"dance  of  the  angel  choirs"  (Dopke)  or  "the 
angelic  hosts  "  (Gksen.)  or  "  the  angel-camps" 
(Del.)  or  "  the  double  army  "  (Umbb.,  Weissb.  ; 
comp.  the  Tabg.  in  loc).  We  must,  however,  de- 
cidedly rejectevery  interpretation  of  these  words, 
which  sees  in  them  an  "  invitation  to  dance," 
whether  it  is  Solomon  (so  Bottcheb),  or  the  ladies 
of  thecourt(Ew.,  Dehtzsch,  elc),  or  Solomon  and 
his  companions  (Dopke),  who  are  supposed  to 
make  request  of  Shulamith  to  execute  the  famous 
dance  of  Mahanaim  in  their  presence.  Such  a 
dance,  whether  it  be  regarded  as  a  solemn  festive 
dance,  in  which  several  took  part  (Ew.\ld,  Bott- 
cheb, e/c),  or  as  a  contra-dance  of  two  ranks, 
one  consisting  of  young  men,  and  the  other  of 
young  women  (HiTZio),  or  as  a  solo  dance  by  a 
"danseuseof  the  Harem  "  (Hen.),  or  as  a  "  coun- 
try festival  dance  in  the  simple  attire  of  a  shep- 
herdess or  a  vine-dresser  "  (  Del.  )  is  as  devoid  of 
evidence  for  its  historical  existence,  as  it  is  impos- 
sible to  demonstrate  from  the  present  context  that 
it  was  in  this  instance  actually  performed.  And  if 
actually  exhibited  on  the  stage,  and  described  in 
the  terms  that  follow  (ver.  2  ff.),  it  certainly 
would  not  have  afforded  that  "  most  chaste  spec- 
tacle," tliat  "  indication  of  Shulamith's  humility 
and  childlike  disposition  "  which  Delitzsch  pro- 
fesses to  see  in  it;  comp.  above  No.  2,  p.  94. 

8.  CoNCLcsiOiS.     c.    Solomo.n's  final  lauda- 
tion   OF    THE    beauty    OF    HIS    BELOVED,  Vli.  2-U. 

Delitzsch  alone  has  put  this  description  into  the 
mouth  of  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  instead  of 
that  of  Solomon  [so  Taylor,  Good,  Williams, 
Fry,  Patrick,  Ainsworth  and  others  on  the 
ground  cbietiy  that  the  king  is  spoken  of  in  the 
third  person,  ver.  6],  against  which,  however, 
may  be  urged  not  only  the  sameness  of  the  tone, 
which  prevails  in  this  as  in  the  following  brief 
section  (vers.  7-10),  but  also  the  circumstance 
that  ihe  caressing  speeches  here  go  further  in  one 
point  at  any  rate,  and  to  say  the  least,  are  more 
undisguised  than  could  have  been  expected  from 
the  mouth  of  women  (see  ver.  3).  This  description 
of  the  beauty  of  Shulamith  also  has  the  greatest 
eimilarily  to  those  which  Solomon  had  previously 


given  (Iv.  1  ff. ;  vi.  4  ff. ),  only  it  enumerates  her 
various  charms  in  the  reverse  order,  by  as- 
cending from  the  feet  (o  the  head,  and  thus  pro- 
ceeds in  conformity  with  the  customary  Hebrew 
phrase  "from  the  foot  to  the  head"  (2  Sam. 
xiv.  2-5  ;  Isa.  i.  6).  That  this  inverted  order  of 
the  description  was  not  occasioned  by  the  person 
described  executing  a  dance,  but  simply  arose 
from  the  poet's  desire  for  variety,  is  correctly 
recognized  even  by  Hitziq;  comp.  also  Ewalu 
in  loc.  (vs.  Delitzsch,  Vaih.,  Renan  and  others). 
One  point  of  contact  with  a  preceding  passage  of 
like  character  in  the  poem  is  found  in  the  ten 
beautiful  parts  of  the  body,  which  are  here  ad- 
duced as  in  Shulamith's  description  of  the  charms 
of  lier  lover  (v.  10-16). — How^  beautiful  axe 
thy  steps  in  the  shoes.  O  prince's  daugh- 
ter! That  the  beginning  is  made  with  the  steps 
(D'OPD  comp.  Ps.  Iviii,  11  ;  2  Kings  xix.  24),  i.  «., 
with  tiie  feet  as  stepping,  as  in  motion,  proves 
nothing  in  favor  of  the  dancing  hypothesis  al- 
ready rejected.  For  "  to  step  "  is  not  =  "  to 
dance,"  and  Shulnmith  must  have  taken  some 
steps  at  the  beginning  of  this  description,  inas- 
much as  Solomon  must  have  led  her  back  to  his 
or  to  her  former  position,  or  have  conducted  her 
to  some  seat  after  her  purpose  to  go  away.  In 
doing  so  he  points  out  to  her  her  graceful  and 
charming  "  steps  in  her  shoes,"  or  in  other  words 
how  very  becoming  the  shoes,  which  she  wears 
as  a  "prince's  daughter,"  are  to  her  as  she 
walks  !  The  shoes  are  manifestly  mentioned  aa 
someiliing  which  she  did  not  wear  originally  and 
in  common  (comp.  v.  3),  as  a  constituent,  there- 
fore, of  her  new  and  elegant  court  dress,  which 
had  doubtless  been  prepared  in  a  most  luxurious 
manner,  both  in  material  and  style,  and  probably 
were  ornamented  with  bows  of  purple,  yellow  or 
variegated  ribbons,  like  the  showy  sandals  of  no- 
ble Hebrew  women  in  later  times  (couip.  Ezek. 
xvi.  10;  Judith  x.  9;  Winer  R.-W.-B.,  Art. 
" Schiihe").  She  is  at  the  same  time  designated 
a  "prince's  daughter"  or  "noble  daughter" 
in  order  to  indicate  her  present  high  rank  (not 
her  noble  descent,  which  according  to  i.  0;  ii.  8 
ff.,  vi.  11  is  improbable).  n3  is  here  used  in  a 
wide  sense  for  female  in  general,  to  mark  the 
fem.  gender,  as  ii.  2  ;  vi.  9  ;  Gen.  xxx.  13 ;  Judg. 
xii.  9,  etc.:  and  the  term  3'IJ  "noble"  mny 
have  been  suggested  by  the  3")J  "B^  which  she 
had  used  just  before.  That  this  form  of  address 
is  substantially  synonymous  with  "my  sister 
bride  "  has  already  been  observed  on  iv.  9  above. 
Thy  rounded  thighs  aie  like  jewels.  Lit., 
"the  roundings  of  thy  thighs,"  i.  e.,  the  rounded 
parts  which  constitute  thy  thighs  (^"5T  genit.  of 
Ihe  material  [Green's  Ileb.  Gram.,  '  2.J4,  4]  as 
Ps.  xl.  16:  Ixviii.  31,  e(c.— The  word  D'vhr\  is 
very  variously  explained  "necklace"  or  "jewels" 
(Sept.,  Vulg.,  Sye.,  Rosenm.,  M-^qn.,  Vaih., 
BiiTTCHF.R),  "clasps"  (Ew. ),  "pearls"  (Hitzig), 
"ornaments"  (Hengstenb.),  or  "ornamenial 
chains."  As  is  shown  by  the  singular  'yn.  n'''7n, 
which  occurs  Prov.  xxv.  12 ;  Hos.  ii.  1-5.  some 
elegantly  made  ornament  must  be  intended,  and 
according  to  the  passage  before  us  it  must  be 
composed  of  round,  smoothly  turned  globules  or 
pearls,  as  it  is    used   to  set  forth  the  perfectly 


lie 


TUE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4 


rounded  shape  of  the  thighs. — The  Mirork  of  an 
artist's  hands.  The  sing.  Hll'JJO,  which  the 
Sept.  acd  Syk.  correctly  retain,  is  here  employed 
because  the  numerous  glotiules  or  pearls  strung 
together,  form  but  one  whole,  one  necklace.  The 
form  px.  of  the  same  signification  with  ]13S 
P-->.  viii.  30,  and  with  the  Chald.  and  Syr.  JO'S 
^ace  HiTziQ  in  loc,  and  Ewald,  Lehrbuch,  §  15J 
6)  serves  to  denote  the  artificer  or  artist  (Texvirj/r, 
oWi/ej:)  in  contrast  with  the  ty'^n  [-inTuv,  faber) 
workman  who  only  performs  the  coarser  kind  of 
work.  That  a  skilful  turner  is  here  particularly 
intended  appears  from  D'N/n.  The  rotundity  of 
the  thighs  is  one  of  the  noted  beauties  of  the  fe- 
male figure,  not  merely  according  to  Oriental,  but 
also  according  to  Grecian  taste,  as  is  shown  by 
the  well-known  attribute  of  Aphrodite  Ka^iOinij'of. 
Ver.  3.  Thy  navel  is  a  round  bowl,  "^yt) 
according  to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  old 
translators  =  li'  Ezek.  xvi.  4,  and  =  Arab. 
surr,  i.  e,  "navel"  (comp.  on  Prov.  iii.  8). 
But,  as  we  learn  from  the  comparison  with  a 
round  bowl  or  mixing  vessel  (on  [JX  see  just  be- 
low), as  well  as  from  the  following  wish  that  this 
vessel  may  not  lack  mingled  wine,  the  navel  itself 
as  such  cannot  be  intended,  but  rather  the  whole 
belly  (abdomen)  with  the  navel  as  its  centre. 
Correctly  therefore  Hahn,  Vaiu.,  Weissbach,  «*c., 
"rfem  Schoo.''s,"  (thy  lap)  by  which  expression  the 
reference  demanded  by  what  fallows  is  sufficient- 
ly intimated,  whilst  the  translation  "pudenda" 
(.VIagnus,  Dopke,  Hitzig)  cannot  be  justified  on 
linguistic  grounds;  for  both  I'^K?  Job  xl.  10, 
and  the  Arab,  sirr  [alSolov,  arcanum)  are  only 
related,  not  identical  ideas. — JJX  plur.  ni'JJN  (Isa. 
xxii  24  ;  Ex.  xxiv.  G)  does  not  denote  a  cup,  but 
rather  a  bowl,  a  large  round  drinking  vessel, 
here  doubtless  a  bowl  for  mixing  (Kpdvi/ii,  Sept., 
VuLG.)  as  the  following  JiQ  "mixed  wine" 
shows.  For  that  they  prepared  this  drink  (a  mix- 
ture of  wine  with  warm  or  cold  water — ■Be.racliolh 
7,  5;  8,  2:  Pesach  7,  13;  M.iasser  4,  4)  exclu- 
sively in  smaller  vessels  as  cups,  goblets,  rtf.,can 

scarcely  be  proved  by  the  formula  Dli)ri"jlJ{  JID 
(vs.  HiTziGl. — Let  notmixed  wrine  be  lack- 
ing. This  wish,  which  is  nut  tobe  converted  u  itli 
the  older  intcrpreiers  into  an  objective  state- 
ment, as  "  nunqnam  indiijtns  pocuiis"  VcLG.)  or 
"  to  which  drink  is  never  wanting  "  (Luther), 
contains  without  doubt  an  allusion  of  like  na- 
ture, but  not  so  delicate  as  that  contained  in 
V.  12  ff.*  (comp.  Prov.  v.  15  if.).      Some  modern 

*'T)inre  is  no  reason  for  suspecting  an  indelicacy  in 
tliis  Jjerfectly  liarmless  expression.  Neither  tlie  words  em- 
ployed, tile  mode  of  tlieir  erai»!oyment,  nor  tile  connection 
in  which  they  stand  warrant  such  an  imputation.  Notes 
correctly  says  the  "spiced  wine"  is  "mentioned  merely 
to  set  off  the  beauty  aud  richness  of  the  cup."  Moody 
Stu \RT ;  "The  dress  "of  the  bride  is  described  throuphout. 
except  where  ctothin,?  is  not  worn,  as  on  the  neck  and 
the  face.  The  proof  of  this  is  ample  and  irresiatihte  in  the 
very  first  line  of  the  picture — the  feet  '  beautiful  with  shoes.' 
The  person  might  have  tieen  clothed,  while  the  feet  were  un- 
siiod ;  but  it  was  impossible  that  the  feet  should  he  beauti- 
tied  with  the  finest  sandals,  without  the  whole  person  being 
arranged  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  Both  the 
t/irms,  therefore,  in  this  verse  are  of  necessity  parts  of  dri'ss 
covering  the  corresponding  parts  of  th  ^  person.  a(:cordinK 
to  the  tendency  In  all  languages  to  transfer  the  names  that 


commentators  vainly  seek  by  various  methods  to 
escape  this  admission,  e.  g.,  Bottchek  by  the 
assumption  that  this  wish  was  only  designed  to 
set  forth  in  a  vivid  manner  the  circular  form  of 
the  navel;  Hengstenb.  by  the  allegorizing  re- 
mark :  "  the  capacity  of  the  church  to  revive  the 
thirsty  with  a  noble  refreshing  draught  is  repre- 
sented under  the  emblem  of  a  bowl  always  full 
of  mixed  wine;"  Del.  by  the  assertion:  "The 
navel  in  so  far  as  it  became  visible  through  her 
dress  as  she  breathed  harder  in  dancing  (?) 
was   like  a  circular  cup  whicA  was  not  lacking 

in  spiced  wine"  (but  7N  with  the  following  volun- 
tative  or  jussive  future  !),  "!.«.,  as  full  of  bloom- 
ing health  (I'rov.  iii.  8)  as  that  of  spiced  wine." 
— Thy  botjy  is  a  heap  of  ■wheat,  set  around 
with  lilies. — D"I3n  noi^  is  certainly  not  a 
"sheaf  of  wheat"  (Ewai.u,  who  here  has  in  mind 
Ruth  iii.  7,  where,  however,  HOI^  rather  means 
a  heap  of  sheaves),  but  an  accumulated  heap  of 
grain  (comp.  2  Chron.  xxxi.  6  ff.;  Neh.  iii.  34),  so 
that  the  point  of  comparison  lies  on  the  one  hand 
in  its  being  arched  over,  and  on  the  other  in  its 
yellowish-white  color,  and  perhaps  also  subordi- 
nately  in  the  fruitfulness  of  such  a  heap  of  grain. 
"Set  around  with  lilies  "  appears  to  allude  to  the 
custom  of  "garnishing  with  flowers  such  a  heap 
of  wheat  on  the  floor,  when  they  threshed  the 
grain  in  the  open  field  immediately  after  the  har- 
vest" (Dopke), — a  custom  which,  to  be  sure, 
has  to  be  inferred  solely  from  this  passage.  That 
the  whole  is  a  mere  "  fancy  picture"  (Weissb., 
Hitzig)  is  improbable.  Yet  the  comparison  was 
probably  suggested  by  the  lily-red — we  would 
have  to  say  the  rose-red — color  of  her  dress 
which  chastely  and  modestly  covered,  as  it 
should,  the  body  of  the  3'oung  lady,  just  as  in  v. 
14  the  sapphires  enveloping  the  "  ivory  fiijure  " 
indicated  the  color  of  the  garment.     At  all  events 


designate  the  living  body  to  tlie  dress  that  both  conceals  and 
adorns  it.  There  is  a  great  agreement  of  critics,  as  well  as 
obvious  suitableness  in  interpreting  tiie  goblet  of  wine  as  an 
image  of  the  clasp  that  secures  the  girdle,  composed  proba- 
bly of  rubies  to  which  wine  is  often  compared."  So  sub- 
stantially also  P.vTRicK,  IIarmer,  P.\rkhukst,  T.4YL0R,  Wil- 
liams, and  others.  Good,  on  the  contrary,  objects  to  the 
opinion  "  that  the  royal  poet,  instead  of  delineating  the  per- 
sonal charms,  '  the  unbought  graces  'of  his  accomplished 
fair,  ia  merel.v  describing  her  ditferent  habiliments  with  the 
splendid  figures  which  were  wrought  on  them.  Against  su('h 
an  interpretation  I  cannot  but  strongly  protest,  as  equally 
unpoetical,  and  unjust  to  tlie  text.  In  the  literal  sense  of 
the  origiual,  I  see  no  indelicacy  whatever,  and  there  ought 
to  be  no  indelicacy  in  its  translation,  "rhe  royal  bard  is 
merely  assuming  a  liberty,  and  that  in  the  chastest  manner 
possible,  which  we  are  daily  conceding  in  our  age  to  every 
painter  andscalptorof  eminence."  Good  coincides  in  opinion 
with  ZbcKLi'.R,  that  "navel"  is  here  used  in  a  wide  sense  for 
"  the  whole  of  the  surrounding  region,"  and  proposes  the 
rendering  "waist."  Adopting  this  suggestion,  UURRO^us 
presents  the  following  picture  as  his  conception  ofthe  figure 
iiere  described:  "Lirst,  the  feet  more  beautiful  in  the  elegant 
sandals;  then  the  contour,  the  folds  of  the  bridal  dress  falling 
around  the  hips,  graceful  as  the  curvature  of  a  rich  necklace 
wrought  by  a  finished  hand;  next,  the  body  like  a  heap  of 
wheat  encompassed  with  lilies;  then,  the  waist  exjlanding 
into  the  bosom,  elegant  as  a  goblet  rounded  gracefully  up- 
wards, and  filled  with  the  richest  spiced  wine."  Scott: 
"Comeliness  of  person,  not  richness  of  attire  or  ornament,  is 
intended;  otherwise  the  commendations  would  be  equally 
appropriate  to  the  most  deformed,  if  splendidly  attired,  as  to 
the  most  beautiful ;  nor  is  there  any  need  to  remove  the  gar- 
ments in  order  to  distinguish  a  very  well  proportioned  and 
comely  person  from  others  in  tlie  most  ordinary  intercourse 
of  life.  Either  men  or  women  may  disguise  theraselvas  by 
deconition;  but  becoming  raiment  seta  olf  the  form  of  thoiM 
who  wear  it."j 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


117 


(lie  characteristic  feature,  and  the  chief  Bignifi- 
canee,  perhaps,  of  the  entire  figure  lies  not  in  this 
Bubsidiary  matter  of  selling  it  around  with  lilies, 
but  in  the  heap  of  grain.  Approximate  parallels 
are  adduced  by  DiiPKE,  Magn.,  etc.,  e.g.,  a  pas- 
Bage  from  Mot.\nebbi  (v.  Hammer,  p.  74).  where 
the  loins  of  a  girl  are  likened  to  a  sand-hill ;  O.m- 
MONRHEIF  (Hamasa,  in  Reiske  Taraf.,  p.  53), 
^•Nales  habet  ill  tumulos  areme  rare  compaciie ;'" 
NuwEiRius  (loe.  cit.,  p.  131):  "Poelss  comparant 
nates  amatae  cum  coUihus  arcnaccis." 

Ver.  4.  Thy  two  breasts  are  like  t'wo 
young  roes,  etc. — Comp.  iv.  6.  "  Feeding 
among  Ihe  lilies"  is  omitted  here,  because  tlie 
tigure  of  lilies  had  just  been  employed  with  a 
somewhat  different  application  ;  not  from  regard 
to  ver.  9,  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  "feed- 
ing "  either  in  figure  or  in  fact  (vs.  Weiss- 
bach). 

Ver.  5.  Thy  neck  is  like  a  tower  of  ivory. 
— The  lert.  comp.  lies  on  the  one  hand  in  its  be- 
ing slender  and  straight,  and  on  the  other  in  the 
pure  white  skin  of  the  neck ;  it  is  therefore  simi- 
lar, though  not  exactly  like  that  in  iv.  4.  The 
ivory  lower  here  mentioned  is  certainly  different 
from  the  tower  of  David  named  there,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  not  lo  be  conceived  of  as  a  tower  for  de- 
fence or  an  arsenal,  but  without  doubt  a  structure 
designed  for  purposes  of  luxury,  like  Ahab's  ivory 
house  (1  Kings  xxii.  .39;  comp.  Am.  iii.  15;  Ps. 
xlv.  9),  or  like  Ihe  ivory  throne,  on  which  Solo 
nion  sat,  according  to  1  Kings  x.  18  ft'. — Thine 
eyes  pools  in  Heshbon. — .Vsv.  12  the  eyes  of 
Ihe  lover  are  compared  with  "doves  by  brooks 
of  water,  bathing  ia  milk,  sitting  on  fullness," 
80  here  the  eyes  of  tiis  beloved  are  likened  to 
light  blue  pools  or  basins  of  water,  whicli  charm- 
ingly mirror  back  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Coinp. 
Ovid,  de  arte  amat.,  II.,  722: — "ocutos  tremulo 
fulgore  micantes,  ut  sol  a  liquida  siepe  Tefulget  aqua.^^ 
Tile  pools  near  Heshbon,  perhaps  just  two  pools 
lying  near  together  before  one  of  the  principal 
gales  of  this  city,  may  have  been  especially  suited 
for  such  a  comparison  by  the  clearness  of  their 
sheets  of  water  and  the  loveliness  of  their  banks. 
Modern  travellers,  as  Seetzen,  Burckhardt, 
etc.,  still  mention  at  least  one  large  reservoir  of 
water  near  Hesban  (the  ancient  Heslibon,  the  ciiy 
of  Ihe  Moabitish  kings,  Deut.  ii.  24  ff.;  Isa.  xv. 
4),  lying  in  a  wady  south  of  the  city,  whicli  is 
enthroned  on  a  high  hill,  and  consisting  of  excel 
lent  masonry;  comp.  Ckome,  PaHisthi'i,  I.,  2->4 
ff — At  the  gate  of  the  daughter  of  multi- 
tudes.— This  "  daughter  of  multitudes "  (ri3 
D'S"}  lit.  "  daughter  of  many,"  Xeu^npni;)  or  pop- 
ulous city  is  assuredly  Heshbon  itself  (comp. 
the  frequent  designation  of  cities  by  Ihe  personi- 
fying expression  r\3  "daugliter,"  e.g.,  Isa.  i.  8; 
X.  32 ;  xxiii.  12  ;  Ps.  exxwii.  6).  a  city  which  in 
the  age  of  David  and  .Solomon  was  certainly  next 
to  Rabbaih  .\mmon,  the  most  populous  place  in 
the  neighboring  kingdoms,  or  ratlier  provinces  of 
Israel  east  of  ttie  .Jordan.  HENr.sTENBERO's  opin- 
ion is  inadmissible  that  D'3T  n2  is  only  another 
expression  for  n3"l  '■  Rabbah,"  or  '^^^^  'Jjl  031 
"Rabbath  of  the  children  of  Ammon,"  so  that 
here  the  pools  of  two  trans-jordanic  cities  would 
be  named.     And  .so  is  Hitzig's  notion  that  "the 


populous"  is  the  name  of  a  particular  gate*  of  the 
city  of  Heshbon  (D'3T  r\3  therefore  not  genitive 
but  apposilive),  viz.,  that  at  which  Ihe  market* 
and  the  tribunals  were  commonly  held;  for  there 
is  no  example  anywhere  else  of  llie  personification 
of  llie  g.'ites  of  a  city  as  daughters. — Thy  nose 
like  the  tower  of  Lebanon,  which  looks 
toward  Damascus. — Literally:  as  "a  tower 
of  Lebanon '■}■ — but  it  does  not  follow  from  this 
absence  of  Ihe  definite  article  that  one  tower  out 
of  several  of  the  same  kind  and  situation  is  in- 
tended (Hitzig).  For  it  is  plainly  designated  as 
a  watch-tower,  or  a  look-out  by  "UT  n31i' ;  and 
though  there  may  have  been  in  all  several  struc- 
tures of  this  description  on  Mount  Lebanon  (for 
according  to  2  Sam.  viii.  6  David  had  set  military 
garrisons  in  Damascene  Syria),  yet  there  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  than  one  that  "looked 
toward  Damascus,"  i.  e.,  which  served  for  the  mil- 
itary observation  of  this  city,  which  since  Re- 
jon's  defection  had  become  dangerous  lo  Israel's 
northern  frontier  (comp.  1  Kings  xi.  23,  24). 
Naturally  enough  it  cannot  now  be  accurately  de- 
termined where  this  tower  of  Lebanon  is  lo  be 
looked  for,  whether  at  Fukra,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  which  Robinson  indicates  a  "remarkable 
tower  "  prob.ably  designed  for  military  purposes 
(Zeitschr.d.  Deutsch.-Morgenl.  Gesellsc/i. \'ll.  1,77), 
or  at  Magdol,  a  place  in  the  same  region,  with  a 
very  ancient  temple  looking  to  the  nortli  (ibid.,  p. 
72).  At  all  events,  however,  this  lower  of  Leba- 
non is  totally  distinct  from  the  tower  of  David 
mentioned  iv.  4,  and  this  the  more  certainly  as 
the  latter  served  to  represent  a  majestic  and 
beautifully  ornamented  neck,  and  the  former  a 
straight  nose,  forming  a  handsome  profile. 

Ver.  6.  Thy  head  upon  thee  like  CarmeL 
— On  the  somewhat  inaccurate  expressiou  "thy 
head  upon  thee,"  in  which  the  head  appears  in 
some  sort  as  an  appendage  lo  the  entire  man, 
comp.  2  Kings  vi.  31  ;  Judg.  xiv.  18. — The  main 
thing  lo  be  regarded  in  the  comparison  with  Car- 
mel  is,  that  next  lo  Lebanon  it  is  the  loftiest 
mountain  in  Northern  Palestine,  and  for  this  rea- 
son perhaps  it  is  often  designated  '0"'3n  DNT 
"  head  of  Carmel  "  (1  Kings  xviii.  42;  Am.  ix. 
3  ;  comp.  Jer.  xlvi.  18)  ;  probably  also  there  may 
be  a  subordinate  reference  to  its  being  covered 
with  dense  woods,  an  emblem  of  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  hair  (Mic.  vii.  14  ;  comp.  v.  13  a  above) 
— wliilst  its  loveliness,  which  Hengstenberg 
would  have  to  be  most  of  all  regarded,  is  proba- 
bly left  out  of  the  account. — And  thy  floiwing 

locks  like  purple. — Ty>l  here  coma  pendula — 
litei-ally  "the  pendant,  lliat  which  hangs  down 
Irom  thy  head"  (comp.  Isa.  xxxviii.  12,  where  it 
denotes  the  thrum,  i.  c,  the  threads  of  the  old 
web  hanging  down  on  llie  loom,  lo  which  the  new 

are  attached)  from  11'^ pendere.  Job  xxxviii.  4. — 
In   the   comparison    of    the    hair    with    purple 

*  {So  Thrdpp  :  "That  gate  of  Heshbon  which  opened  north- 
eastward in  the  direction  of  R.ibbah  of  Ammou,"  or  "  the  gate 
of  approach  to  the  poola,  the  porUil  through  which  the  mul- 
titude of  the  Gentile  world  presses  to  drink  to  the  full  of  the 
clejir  and  unruffled  waters  of  Christian  doctrine."] 

t  [The  correct  translation  is  "  the  tower  of  Lebanon,"  the 
entire  expression  being  rendered  definite  b,vthe  article  before 
the  ladt  noun.     See  tiRi:i;N's  H  b.  'r'rum.  ^246,  3. — Tr.J 


118 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


([DJ'IS  particularly  denoting  the  red  purple  in 
distinction  from  the  dark  violet-blue  purple  or 
nSSil)  the  color  is  not  so  much  taken  into  consi- 
deration— for  red  hair,  or  such  as  at  all  inclines 
to  a  reddish  cast,  is  not  at  all  supposable  in  an 
Oriental  beauty — as  its  dark  lustre  (comp.  v.  II). 
As  also  with  the  Greeks  nopipvpEor,  often  has  al- 
most the  same  signification  with  /jf/laf,  and  hence, 
f.g.,  Anacreon  (xxviii.  6,  7)  uses  T:opij>vpai  x"i'at 
as  the  synonym  of  KOftat  fiiAaivm ;  Propertius, 
III.,  17,  22,  speaks  of  the  purpurea  coma  of 
Nisus,  and  Suidas  explains  the  Homeric 
hvavoxaiTTj^  by  " /lelavuSpi^,  TTopii>vp6&pii"  (other 
pertinent  citations  from  Tibull.,  Vibg.,  Cic, 
ri,iN.,  etc..  see  in  Rosenm.  and  Dopke  in  loc). 
It  is,  moreoYer,  also  possible  that  some  purple 
ornament,  that  Shulamith  may  have  worn  braided 
in  lier  hair  (comp.  Jlitid,  xvii.  52),  gave  occasion 
to  the  comparison;  whilst  there  is  no  need  what- 
ever of  supposing  an  allusion  to  the  later  custom 
among  the  Hebrew  women  of  dying  their  hair 
with  henna  and  the  like  to  give  it  a  yellowish 
red  appearance.  Comp.  Dopke  in  loc.  and  Winer 
R.-W.-B.,  Art.  "Haar."— A  king  fettered 
by  curls.  The  noble  lustre  of  his  beloved's 
head  of  hair  just  described  makes  the  transition 
easy  to  the  powerful  eifect  which  it,  or  more 
particularly  her  wonderfully  beautiful  locks,  has 
wrought  on  him,  her  royal  lover  (comp.  iv.  9). 
On  the  comparison  of  pretty  locks  with  nets  or 
snares,  in  which  the  lover  is  caught,  Ecclus.  ix.  3, 
4,  as  well  as  numerous  parallels  from  Oriental 
poets  (in  Ewald,  Heiligst.,  and  Dopke);  al.so 
Prov.  vi.  25,  where  this  ensnaring  effect  is  attri- 
buted to  the  eye-lashes,  as  Eccles.  vii.  26,  to  the 
arms  of  the  beloved  object.  The  Vclg.,  Syr., 
Lbth.,     and     more     recently    Weissbacu     and 

Friedrich  connect*  "^T)^  with  J0J"1X:  "as  the 
king's  purple,"  or  as  "  purple  of  a  king,"  but  in 
so  doing  involve  themselves  in  inextricable  diffi- 
culties in  the  expl.uiation  of  the  concluding 
words:  D'0m3  11DX  (c.  g.,  Friedrich:  "as 
the  purple  of  a  king  that  is  unbound  like  the 
folds  in  the  troughs;"  Weissbach  :  "as  a  king's 
purple  fastened  in  running  water" — where  an 
allusion  is  supposed  to  the  purple  dye-houses  on 
the  Phoenician  side  of  Carmel) ! 

9.   Third  Scene,  a.  Solomon:   vers.  7-11. 

Ver.  7.  How  fair  art  thou,  and  how 
comely,  O  love,  among  delights. — It  is  no 
more  necessary  here  than  in  iii.  10,  to  take  H^nx 
in  the  sense  of  nans.  as  is  done  by  the  Vulg. 
{■•charissima")  and  Syr.,  or  to  point  it  accord- 
ingly as  Hitzig  proposes.  We  evidently  have  to 
do  with  an  apostrophe  to  love  as  such,  like  tliat 
contained  in  iv.  10,  only  for  the  more  concrete 
idea  "thy  love,"  the  more  universal  one  of  love 
in  general  is  here  substituted.  n^HX  has  sub- 
stantially the  same  sense  as  in  ii.  7,  v.  8,  viii. 
6,  7,  or  as  in  2  Sam.  i.  26,  e:c.     In   a  strangely 


•^So  too  nouBTG\NT  and  TnRUPP;  tho  latter  of  whom  ren- 
d«M  :  "  Uko  royal  purple  enlixt'd  among  the  wainseotingfl. 
Tfn  pi'-tnre  in  tliat  of  a  rieli  ehamt>er,  <m  the  wall.-!  of  which 
ar?  earvod  wooden  panels  alternate  with  purple  han^rinij;;*. 
'l'h.i  tormor  servo  to  relieve  an<l  to  show  otf  tlie  lieauty  "I'  the 
latt4sr.  to  which  latter  the  well-ordered  an<l  well-fa.slened 
IrtJMas  of  t'.irj  hrvli.i  hair  are  eomi)ared."J 


arbitrary  manner  Weissbach  takes  n3riS  in  its 
proper  infinitive  sense  as  in  apposition  with  the 
predicate  not  as  a  vocative :  "  how  fair  art  thou, 
and  how  comely,  a  loving  in  delight'' — which  is 
made  to  mean  "  one,  to  love  whom  awakens  de- 
light."—D'J1J.I7r\  (or  niJU.J?r!  Eccles.  ii.8)  arenot 
"caresses"  (Hengstenb.),  but  the  sensations 
of  pleasure  connected  with  them,  "joys,  de- 
lights "  (comp.  Prov.  xix.  10,  Mic.  i.  16,  ii.  9). 
Solomon  does  not  mean  by  it  vulgar,  carnal 
pleasure,  but  the  sweet  joys  of  connubial  inter- 
course, as  he  now  experiences  them  anew  in 
embracing  Shulamith. — On  the  necessity  of  as- 
suming either  an  exit  of  the  chorus,  or  their 
withdrawal  to  the  back-ground  during  the  en- 
thusiastic manifestations  of  conjugal  tenderness 
which  begin  here,  comp.  above.  No.  2,  p.  100, 
where  all  tliat  was  necessary  is  noted  respecting 
the  propriety  of  having  a  new  scene  begin  with 
this  verse. 

Ver.  8.  This  thy  stature  resembles  a 
palm   tree.      The   nxi    "this"   before    '^noip 

"thy  stature"  is  commonly  regarded  as  re- 
ferring back  to  the  description  of  the  beauty  of 
the  beloved,  contained  in  vers.  2-6,  which  how- 
ever is  the  more  inadmissible,  as  separate  parts 
only  of  the  body  were  there  spoken  of,  for 
whose  combination  into  one  idea  HNin  (v.  15), 
and  not  ITDIp,  would  have  been  the  proper  ex- 
pression. Delitzsch  correctly  remarks:  "As 
he  lets  Iier  go  from  his  arms,  he  surveys  her 
figure  with  his  eyes,  and  finds  it  like  the  palm- 
tree,"  etc.  To  get  a  lively  impression  of  her 
towering  stature  (comp.  n?31p  in  Isa.  x.  33 ; 
Ezek.  xxxi.  3;  Ps.  xxxvii.  24),  he  must  have  let 
go  of  her  for  a  moment  at  least,  and  have  con- 
templated her  more  from  a  distance.  The  female 
name  Tamar,  which  is  not  an  unusual  one  in  the 
Old  Test.,  is  based  upon  the  comparison,  which 
is  quite  a  favorite  with  oriental  poets,  of  a  tall 
and  slender  stature  with  the  palm  (comp. 
Fraehn  on  Ihn  Fos.'il.,  p.  72 ;  also  Homer,  Od. 
vii.  lUO).  And  thy  breasts  clusters,  i.  e. 
those  of  the  palni-tiee,  by  which  must  be  in- 
tended the  date-palm,  loaded  with  its  clusters 
of  fruit  (correctly  Rosenmueller,  Bottcher, 
Hitzig),  especially  as  it  is  not  until  the  follow- 
ing verse  that  the  transition  is  made  to  clusters 
of  grapes,  which  are  expressly  designated  as 
I  such  by  the  addition  of  I^jH  "the  vine."  That 
the  date  clusters  are  rntlier  hard,  and  to  that 
extent  appear  not  to  correspond  to  the  swelling 
softness  of  the  breasts,  does  not  impair  the 
suitableness  of  the  comparison,  as  the  only  thing 
regarded  is  the  form  (vs.  Weissb.)  Moreover, 
the  mention  of  breasts  again  in  this  passage 
(comp.  ver.  4)  proves  that  the  preceding  <iescrip- 
tion  (vers.  2-G)  is  not  closely  connected  with  that 
before  us,  and  consequently  that  Weissbach's 
opinion  that  twelve  beauties  are  designedly 
enumerated  in  vers.  2-11  (viz.,  the  stature  and 
the  breasts,  in  addition  to  the  preceding  ten), 
lacks  confirmation. 

Ver.  9.  I  resolve  I  ■will  climb  the  palm- 
tree,  ^P'lON  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  preterite  "I 
saiil,"  or  "I  resolved,"  at  some  former  time,  c/c, 
as  lliough  these  words  referred  back  to  v.  1  (so 


V.  2— VIII.  i. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


119 


Vi'LQ.,  Luther,  etc.),  but  as  a  present,  since 
several  other  wishes  are  uttered  in  what  follows, 
but  no  mention  is  made  of  any  previous  fultil- 
uient  of  these  wishes.  Comp.  also  IHWOT  ver. 
II,  which  plainly  points  to  a  fond  desire  of  her 
lijvur,  just  manifested  afresh,  not  to  one  enter- 
iiined  at  a  former  period.  I  will  grasp  its 
boughs.      D"i?.J?    lit.   "that  which  is  on  top" 

(kindred  with  '7Sd.  77n  to  lift  up),  i.  e.,  the 
branches  and  leaves  forming  the  crown  of  the 
palm-tree.  A  more  particular  interpretation  of 
the  figure,  e.  g.,  so  that  the  nose  and  mouth, 
which  her  lover  wished  to  kiss,  are  here  intended 
by  the  "branches"  (Wkissb.),  is  inadmissible, 
and  leads  to  otfences  against  good  taste. — And 
be  thy  breasts,  please,  like  clusters  of 
the  vine  (cump.  on  ver.  8),  and  the  breath 
of  thy  nose  like  apples.  Nothing  more  is 
here  expressed  than  the  design  to  kiss,  or  to 
revel  in  tlie  beauty  and  the  sweetness  of  the 
face  and  the  bosom  of  his  beloved.  Chap.  iv. 
16,  V.  1,  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  directly  com- 
pared.— "The  breath  of  the  nose"  (comp.  Isa. 
ii.  22,  2  Sam.  xxii.  16)  is  here  expressly  men- 
tioned, because  this  is  what  is  perceived  in 
ki.ssing  the  mouth.  The  figure  of  ajiples  is  the 
more  appropriate,  because  the  apple  niijri  de- 
rives its  name  in  Hebrew  from  its  delightful 
frigrance. 

Ver.  10  And  thy  palate  like  the  best 
vrine.  The  palate  is  not  named  here  as  the 
organ  of  speech  (Henostenb.  and  others),  but 
as  a  substitute  for  tbe  mouth  or  the  lips  in 
respect  to  the  sweet  breath  or  lovely  kisses 
(comp.  V.  13).  31iDn  ]"  lit.  "wine  of  the  good" 
(comp.  31D"n3"13  Prov.  xxiv.  25),  is  equivalent 
to  "delightful,  excellent  wine."  See  on  this 
periphrasis  fur  the  adjective,  Ew.\ld,  Lehrb. 
I  287,  b  [GaEEN's  Heh.  Gram.,  I  2.J4,  fi,  b].— 
Going    do'wn   for   my  beloved   smoothly. 

As  the  supposition  that  ""in?  "  for  my  beloved  " 
has  slippeil  in  here  by  mistake  from  the  11th 
verse  following  (Amm.,  Heiligst.,  Hitz.  :  also 
EwALD  formerly),  is   as  arbitrary  as  its  change 

to  "ll"'^  "my  love"  (Velth.,  Meier),  or  to 
mn?  "  beloved  ones,  friends"  (so  Ewald  now), 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Shulamith  here  takes  up 
the  king's  words,  in  order  as  in  iv.  IG  to  con- 
tinue his  description,  and  to  give  him  to  under- 
stand, in  tlie  most  flattering  way,  that  she  fully 
responds  to  his  love,  and  is  ready  to  grant  him 
every  enjoyment  of  it. — Gliding  over  the 
lips  of  sleepers.  Others:  causing  the  lips  of 
tho.^e  that  are  asleep  to  speak  (Mercerus, 
Hengste.vb.,  Del,  etc.,  connecting  33n  with 
n3"1  speaking  (in  a  bad  sense),  slander) ;  or 
"causing   the   lips    of  sleepers   to   long  for   it" 

(Wbissb.),  etc.  But  for  33n — whence  31  as  the 
ii:ime  of  the  bear  with  his  slow  and  awkward 
gnl — the  signification  "  to  flow  gently,  '  or  "to 
glide,"  is  suitable  enough,  and  the  meaning  un- 
doubtedly is,  that  pleasant  tasting  wine  easily  puts 
one  to  sleep,  so  that  he  who  drinks  it  is  insensi- 
bly overtaken  by  slumber  (correctly  Ew.).  There 
is  oeftainly  no  allusion  to  the  saliva  oris  of  two 


lovers  united  in  a  kiss,  (according  to  the  expreS' 
sion  in  Lccretids,  '^juiiguntqus  salivas  oris," 
etc.)  for  such  an  image  of  refined  sensuality  ia 
inconceivable  in  the  mouth  of  the  chaste  Shula- 
mith. 

Ver.  11.  I  am  my  beloved's  (comp.  vi.  3), 
and  for  me  is  his  desire. — Lit:  "and  on  me 
(rests)  his  desire."  np?iy/1  as  in  Gen.  iii.  16, 
the  passage  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  this,  of  the 
longing  desire  of  the  man  lor  the  society  of  his 
wife,  not  of  gross  sensual  desires  for  sexual  in- 
tercourse. The  whole  is  a  triumphant  exclamation 
in  which  Shulamith  joyfully  affirms  that  her  lover 
cannot  exist  without  her,  and  it  thus  prepares 
the  way  for  her  making  the  request  of  him,  which 
follows.  With  indescribable  vulgarity  HiTZio 
asserts  that  "  the  concubine  here  recognizes  with 
faltering  voice  and  bursting  eyes  the  mutual  ne- 
cessity of  love." 

10.  Continuation  and  Conclusion,  b.  Shu- 
bimith's  victorious  assault  on  Solomon's  heart,  vii. 
12 — viii.  4, 

Ver.  12.  Come,  my  beloved,  let  us  go  out 
to  the  country. — The  beloved  (IIT)  who  is  ad- 
dressed, can  be  no  other  than  the  one  addressed 
just  before  in  vers.  10,  11,  that  is  to  say,  Solo- 
mon, not  the  "shepherd,''  to  whom  she  certainly 
would  not  hiive  been  obliged  in  the  first  instance 
lo  have  expressed  her  wish  to  escape  from  the 
contracted  city  walls  into  the  country  in  the  form 
of  an  earnest  entreaty,  and  a  fluent  and  impas- 
sioned persuasion,  even  if  he  were  with  her  in 
Jerusalem  (vs.  Bottch.,  Hitz,,  Ken.)  ;  and  if 
he  was  not  with  her,  it  was  utterly  useless  to  ad- 
dress these  words  to  him  when  far  remote  (vs. 
Ew.,  Vaih.).  Her  persuasion  is  plainly  directed 
to  a  lover,  who  was  really  present,  and  besides 
was  seriously  meant,  not  a  mere  fantastical  make- 
believe  request,  a  desire  which  the  petitioner  was 
convinced  beforehand  could  not  possibly  be 
granted  (vs.  Weissb.). — Let  us  lodge  in  the 
villages. — To  the  country  (ITIt^)  are  here  added 
villages  (□'■]33  from  132  1  Sain.  vi.  18  ;  construct 
133)  as  in  1  Chron.  xxvii.  2.5.  They  .are  alone 
adapted  to  the  idea  of  "lodging,  passing  the 
night"  (]'''),  not  "  cypress-flowers"  or  "  alhcn- 
nas."  which  Dodfrl.,  Ew.,  Meier  unsuitably 
mingle  in  here,  and  which  could  scarcely  have 
been  so  common  then  in  the  holy  land,  that  peo- 
ple could  sleep  on  them  or  under  tliem  (comp.  on 
i.  14) — On  the  necessity  of  spending  at  least  two 
nights  on  the  way  from  Jerusalem  to  Shunem,  see 
on  iii.  8  above  (p.  82). 

Ver.  13.  Let  us  start  early  for  the  vine- 
yards.— It  is  not  vineyards  lying  on  the  route  to 
Shunem,  which  they  might  visit  on  their  w.ay, 
that  are  here  intended,  but  doubtless  the  vine- 
yards at  Shulamith's  home,  and  probably  her 
own.  For  it  was  in  these  alone  that  she  could 
take  so  lively  an  interest  as  is  expressed  in  what 
follows. — We  shall  see  ■whether  the  vine 
has  sprouted,  its  blossoms  opened. — The 
vines  and  pomegranates  here  named  .are  the  same 
as  those  in  vi,  II,  Shulamith  wishes  to  return 
with  her  lover  to  just  those  innocent  rural  occu- 
pations and  pleasures,  which  are  there  described 
as  belonging  to  her  former  mode  of  life.  The 
season  implied,  as  in  vi.  11  and  in  ii.  11  if.,  is  ths 


iJ 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4 


spi-ing — that  p?rioJ  in  the  year  whicli  most  in- 
cites and  allures  lo  the  enjoyment  of  external  na- 
ture. It  is  innUtnissible  to  suppose  that  precisely 
one  year  had  elapsed  between  the  spring  depicted 
in  those  passages  and  that  which  is  here  implied 
(HiTZ.).  It  is  more  probable — inasmuch  as  the 
whole  action  appears  to  run  its  course  in  two  or 
three  weeks  (comp.  on  ii.  8  ff.  above,  p.  69) — that 
the  same  spring  is  meant  here  as  there,  supposing 
the  poet  to  liave  formed  a  clear  conception  of  the 
intervalx  between  llie  main  particulars  of  ihe  ac- 
tion.— There  vrill  I  give  thee  my  love. — 
'nil  means  not  "thy  caresses  bestowed  on  me," 
but  "mine  bestowed  on  thee."  This  to  be 
sure,  she  has  already  granted  him  (see  iv.  16; 
vii.  7  if.),  but  not  as  yet  continuously,  nor  without 
temporary  disturbances  and  interruptions  (comp. 
vi.  4  f.;  vi.  11 ),  nor  as  yet  with  the  full  and  unre- 
served opening  of  her  heart.  But  tliere  yUU  with 
strong  emphasis,  as  Am.  vii.  12)  there  amid  the 
loveliness  and  joyous  freedom  of  fair  nature  she 
will  become  entirely  his. — Observe  how  little  this 
passage  again  suits  the  so-called  shepherd  hypo- 
thesis; or  even  WEissB.icn's  supposition  that 
Shulamith  is  not  serious  in  uttering  the  wish  be- 
fore us,  and  that  jHX  Di?  is  therefore  to  be  taken 
conditionally:  "There  would  I  give  —  if  it 
were  only  supposable  that  you  could  go  with 
me"  (?!). 

Ver.  14.  The  mandrakes  give  forth  their 
odor. — D"N1-nn  are  not  "lilies"  (Luther),  but 
the  fruit  of  the  mandrake  [mandragora  vernalis^  or 
atropa  vwjidragora),  a  wild  plant  common  in  Pa- 
lestine, particularly  in  Galilee  (Schubert,  Reise, 
III.,  1 17),  of  the  same  genus  with  the  belladonna, 
with  small  whitish-green  blossoms,  which  in  May 
or  June  become  small  yellow  apples,  about  the 
size  of  a  nutmeg,  of  a  strong  and  agreeable  odor 
t/i^/a  Evoafia,  Test.  Issachar^  c.  1  ;  comp.  TJioscorid. 
IV.  76:  thilif^Tj  fiera  [i>ijiov^  Tivoi;).  As  now  these 
apples  have  a  pleasant  smell,  but  not  the  blos- 
soms nor  the  plant  itself,  Shulamith  of  course  re- 
fers to  the  former,  and  here  therefore  looks  for- 
ward to  a  more  advanced  season  than  in  ver.  13 — 
that  is  to  s;iy,  the  time  of  wheat  harvest  (see 
Gen  XXX.  14),  as  in  what  follows  in  her  mention 
of  "this  year's  fruit"  her  imagination  goes  still 
further  forward. — Theseapples,  according  toGen. 
XXX.  14-16,  were  regarded  as  an  artificial  provo- 
cative of  sexual  love  (whence  also  the  name 
D'XniT   from  nil,  D'nil)  even  in  the  earliest  Ori- 

•    T  •      ' 

ental  antiquity;  so  also  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  by  whom  they  were  therefore  called 
Kipnaia,  Circela  (comp.  also  the  name  ' Appodirri 
fiavdpayopf/Tic  in  Hesycuius  and  Piiavori.nus),  by 
the  Arabs,  who  to  this  day  call  them  ttiffiih  es- 
Shaitun,  "  Satan's  apples,"  bj-  all  Christendom  in 
the  middle  ages  (see  Graesse,  Beilrdge  zur  Lite- 
tur  itnd  Sfjge  des  MittclatterSy  1850),  and  by  many 
still  in  modern  times;  comp.,  e.g..  Father  Myl- 
ler  in  his /owrnf//  to  the  Promised  Land :  "This 
root  (!),  which  I  found  in  the  wilderness  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  and  brought  considerable  of  it 
away  with  ine,  has  many  medicinal  virtues,  re- 
moves barrenness,  and  makes  efficacious  love-po- 
tions." (See  Del.,  Genesis,  p.  467.)  Shulamith 
certainly  does  not  name  the  dudnim  here  on  ac- 
count  of  these  supposed    aphrodisiac   qualities, 


much  less  does  she  mean  to  intimate  an  intention 
lo  prepare  a  magic  potion  from  them  to  excite  her 
lover  to  a  higher  degree  of  affection.  This  fruit 
is  rather  to  her  in  her  innocence  and  simplicity 
merely  the  symbol  of  love,  and  her  naming  them 
here  like  the  "  excellent  fruits  of  all  sorts  over 
our  doors"  is  merely  designed  to  add  to  the  at- 
tractions and  enjoyments  of  her  home,  which  she 
had  before  mentioned,  such  as  were  new  and 
less  familiar  to  her  lover  (see  Weissb.  in  loe  ). 
Meier  goes  loo  far  in  seeking  a  symbolic  sense 
for  the  words,  when  he  understands  "  the  love 
apples  are  fragrant"  to  mean  simply  "I  am 
deeply  in  love,"  and  "  the  old  fruit  and  the  new  " 
there  mentioned  to  signify  the  sweet  fruits  of 
love,  of  which  she  would  give  him  to  partake,  the 
old  love  which  had  been  in  existence  hitherto,  and 
the  new,  which  would  meanwhile  grow  up  and 
reach  a  heightened  intensity.  See  in  opposition 
to  this  allegorizing,  which  fritters  away  the  sim- 
ple freshness  of  a  description  so  true  to  nature  for 
the  sake  of  insipid  trivialities,  Hitz.  and  Weissb. 
in  loc. — And  over  our  doors  are  all  sorts  of 
excellent  fruit,  new  as  well  as  old.- — By 
"  our  doors  "  Shulamith  means  the  doors  of  her 
parental  home  in  Shunem,  where,  besides  her 
brothers  and  sister  (i.  6  ;  viii.  8),  her  mother 
still  lived  (comp.  iii  4;  viii.  2).  This  house  had 
probably  several  doors,  at  all  events  a  front  and 
a  back  door,  and  likely  also  side  doors,  whence 
the  plural.  On  shelves  in  the  inside  over  these 
doors  they  may  have  kept  choice  ripe  fruit,  as  is 

often  done  in  our  farmers'  houses ;  hence  the  />' 
"over"  before 'J"inn3  "our  doors,"  which  can  nei- 
ther mean  "  in  front  of"  (Luther,  v.  Amm.  ),  nor 
" within" (Magn.)  nor  "by"  or  "at"  (Cocc.,Haiih, 
GoLTZ,  etc.).  Prov.  xvii.  19  also  seems  to  alliid* 
to  a  use  of  the  beams  or  boards  over  the  doors  of 
rustic  dwellings  for  keeping  various  objects 
(even  if  not  exactly  for  the  construction  of  regu- 
lar store-rooms). — On  D""1JD  lit.,   "excellencies, 

precious  things"  comp.  iv.  1,3.  ~73  refers  to  the 
various  kinds  of  this  fine  fruit,  not  as  Weissb.  af- 
firms, to  the  distinction  between  this  year's  and 
last  year's  fruit.  As  regards  these  two  expres- 
sions (D"J!?;  DJ  D'Din),  they  are  both  to  be 
taken  in  the  same  sense  as  Mat.  xiii.  52  xana  nn: 
TmAaid  (comp.  also  Lev.  xxv.  22;   xxvi.  10),  and 

as  epithets  limiting  D'TJ0"73;  they  must  not  in 
violation  of  the  accents  be  connected  with  the 
final  clause  "  I  have,  my  beloved,  laid  up  for 
thee"  (vs.  Magn.,  Bel.,  .Meier).  This  as  well 
as  the  reference  of  the  verb  "ij'JSX  to   the  whole 

sentence  from  O'nni)"?^  onward,  as  if  the  last 
three  clauses  of  tlie  verse  formed  one  long  period 
(Ew.,  Umbr.,  Weissd  )  is  inadmissible,  for 
though  she  might  speak  of  having  stored  old  or 
last  year's  fruit  for  her  lover,  the  same  could  not 
be  said  of  this  year's,  which  had  still  to  ripen 
and  grow. 

VIII.  1.  O  that  thou  wert  as  a  brother  of 
mine,  nN3  cannot  possibly  be  taken  as  a  simple 
vocative  (Septuaq.,  Luth.).  It  rather  refers  lo 
a  relation  like  that  of  a  brother  ("as  a  brother 
of  mine,"  comp.  Ps.  xxxv.  14)  and  consequently 
expresses    ihe  wish  and   that  a   wish   seriously 


V.  2— VIII.  i. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


121 


meant  and  speedily  to  be  realized  (vs.  Weissb.), 
that  Solomon  would  come  so  near  to  her  in  every 
respect,  both  inwardly  and  outwardly,  thai  she 
could  regard  and  treat  him  just  as  her  own 
brother,  as  a  member  of  her  family,  belonging  to 
her  own  domestic  household.  The  wish  here 
expressed  would  have  no  meaning  in  respect  to  a 
lover  of  the  rank  of  a  shepherd.  It  most  mani- 
festly implies  as  its  object  a  lover,  whose  whole 
station  in  life  was  above  that  of  bis  beloved,  in 
whose  case  there  must  be  a  coming  down  from  his 
elevation,  if  an  actual  living  communion  is  to 
subsist  between  him  and  her.  For  the  fact  of 
his  having  made  his  beloved  a  **  queen  "  and  a 
"prince's  daughter"  is  evidently  without  effect 
on  the  child-like  and  humble  mind  of  this  simple 
child  of  nature.  She  has  not  been  able  to  pre- 
vail upon  herself  in  addressing  this  proud  lord 
of  a  harem,  surrounded  by  his  sixty  queens  and 
his  eighty  concubines,  as  well  as  by  his  female 
slaves,  to  call  him  lier  own  with  the  same  cor- 
dial confidence  that  a  sister  cherishes  towards 
her  brother.  She  has  learned  to  call  him  in 
"beloved"  but  not  nX  "brother,"  often   as  he 

T 

may  since  their  marriage  have  addressed  her  as 
7173  'ninx  "my  sister,  bride."  If  this  relation 
which  she  sustained  to  him  be  correctly  estimated, 
Henostenbero's  paraphrase  of  the  exclamation 
before  us  "0  that  thou  who  art  my  brother, 
wouldst  enter  into  a  really  brotherly  relation  to 
me"  will  appear  to  be  by  no  means  so  absurd, 
as  Weissb.  would  represent  it  *  Were  I  to 
find  thee  -without,  I  would  kiss  thee. 
"Without,"  i.  r..  on  the  street  or  in  the  open 
country  and  in  general  wherever  I  must  now 
observe  a  stiff  courtly  etiquette  toward  thee  as 
king.  A  new  protest  therefore  against  the  man- 
ners of  the  harem,  which  h:id  become  intolerable 
to   her. — Yet     none    ^yould    despise    me. 

'7  in'~K7  they,  viz.  the  people,  would  not  des- 
pise and  reproach  me  as  though  I  were  a  vulgar 
wench  wlio  kissed  strange  men  in  the  public 
street;   comp    Prov.  vii.  IJ,  13. 

Ver.  2.  I  would  lead  thee,  bring  thee  to 
my  mother's  house.  What  she  had  only 
dreamed  before  iii.  4,  she  can  now  utter  to  her 
lover  as  the  burning  wish  of  her  heart,  certain 
of  its  speedy  .accouiplishment.   -pnjX  "I  would 

lead  thee,"  that  is  to  say  by  the  hanil :  whither 
is  told  by  the  following  verb,  which  limits  the 
one  before  it  in  the  same  way  as  •TpU'X  does 
■IXXOX  in  ver.  1,  A.— Thou  wouldst  instruct 

■-;  r  ;   v 

me.  Again  an  indication  that  the  lover  is  not  a 
young  shepherd  but  the  wise  and  learned  king 
Solomon,  in  comparison  with  whom  Shulamith 
had  long  learned  to  feel  her  ignorance  and  at 
the  same  time  her  need  of  instruction  from  the 
rich  stores  of  his  mind.  Feeling  the  incongruity 
of  instruction  by  a  lover,  who  was  a  mere  shep- 
herd, HiTZ.  has  taken  up  again  the  conjecture 
of  Ibs  Ezra,  that  'St*  is  to  be  supplied  before 
'J!^? -'?  •""'  'he  verb  thus  converted  into  a  rela- 


*  [Williams  :  She  suggests  a  wish  that  her  relation  to  him 
were  rather  that  of  an  infant  brother  than  a  husband;  that 
she  might  be  at  liberty  to  express  lier  atTection  in  the  strong- 
est and  most  imhlic  manner,  without  incurring  the  charge  of 
forwardness  or  indecorum.] 


live  clause  is  to  be  referred  as  a  3d  pers.  fern, 
to  the  preceding  "SX:  "my  mother  who  would 
teach  me,"  viz.  how  to  do  every  thing  toi-  ynu  in 
the  best  manner.  But  this  is  quite  arbitrary  ;  lor 
all  the  verbs  before  and  after  are  in  the  -d  pers. 
['.'];  a  verb  thus  extraordinarily  iuterrnpiing 
this  series  must  necessarily  have  been  indicaied 
not  merely  by  'D  or  Ttyx  but  by  an  emphatic 
X*n  "she";  and  to  this  XTl  would  then  have 
to  be  opposed  an  ^P.if'X  'JN  He.  comp.  (Bottchku 
Ncue  Aehrenl.  III.  172).  Most  of  the  ancient 
versions  confirm  ours,  which  is  the  common 
view  ;  and  that  the  Sept.  and   Str.  in   place  of 

'J"IH7n  have  mechanically  repeated  the  last  line 
of  iii.  4,  can  prove  nothing  against  its  correctness. 
I  w^ould  give  thee  to  drink  of  the  spiced 
■wine.  That  '^PO'S  "I  would  cause  line  lo 
drink"  contains  an  intentional  allusion  to  ^ptVX 
"I  would  kiss  thee,"  ver.  1,  which  is  ideniical 
in  its  consonants,  is  an  idle  remark  of  Hitzio 
and  Weissbach,  which  has  little  in  its  favor. 
Meier  has  needlessly  taken  this  clause  to  be  a 
statement  of  what  her  lover  was  to  teach  (he 
speaker,  "thou  wouldst  teach  me  how  lo  make 
thee  drink,"  f^(^. ;  so  too  Ewald  and  Heiligst., 
according  to  whom  the  meaning  is:  "from  tliv 
moutli  I  would  learn,  what  is  pleasant  and 
agreeable  to  ihee.  viz.,  to  cause  thee  to  drink." 
etc.     But  all  is  simpler  and  in  better  taste  if  we 

assume  no  close  relation  between  'Jl^Sri  "thou 
wouldst  instruct  me"  and  this  clause,  and  find 
nothing  intimated  here  beyond  the  rocipiocily 
subsisting  between  the  spiritual  gifts  whicli  the 
teacher  confers,  and  the  bodily  refresiiment 
which  his  pupil  affords  him  in  turn  {comp.  Luke 
X.  38  tf.,  1  Cor.  ix.  11:  Gal.  vi.  ti).— By  the 
spiced  wine,  of  which  she  means  to  give  hini  lo 
drink,  Shulamith  probably  means  grape  wine 
mixed  with  fragrant  and  pungent  essences  (ac- 
cording to  a  well-known  oriental  custom,  comp.. 
DiJPKE  and  Vaih.,  in  loc).  The  definite  article 
designates  this  wine  as  the  well  known  drink  of 
superior  excellence,  as  the  spiced  wine  pnr  ey- 
cellence;  comp.  ^IBH  ["  vii.  10.  Of  my  pom- 
egranate juice.  ^Notwithstanding  the  absence 
of  the  copula  something  different  from  the  pre- 
ceding is  here  iniended  and  not  the  spiced  wine 
itself,  as  though  this  were  merely  made  from  the 
juice  of  fruit  (Hitzig).  For  such  a  difference  is 
indicated  by  the  use  of  O'pi'  "must,  unferment- 
ed  juice,"  instead  of  the  preceding  J"  "wine," 
as  well  as  by  the  mention  above  of  the  vine  along 
with  Ihe  pomegranate  (vii,  13,  comp.  vi.  llj. 
The  suffix  in  'J'l'S'l  (for  which  the  VuLG,  and 
Str.  read  ''JW^  "  my  pomegranates")  is  gen.  of 
possession  lo  D'Di?  (comp.  'K''1p  IH)  hence 
equiv.alent  to  "  pomegranate  wine  prepared 
by  me."  It  makes  against  the  view  of  Weiss- 
bach  and  others;  "of  the  wine  of  my  pomegran- 
ate tree,"  thai  according  to  vi.  11;  vii.  13,  Shu- 
lamith had  more  than  one  such  tree — The 
ancients  called  the  fermented  juice  of  pome- 
granates "wine,"  as  appears  from  Plin.  //.  A'. 
14,  16:    "  Vinum  fit — e punicis,  quod  rhoidcn  {fxitd, 


122 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLO.MOS. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


pomegranate)  vacant";  comp.  Winek  R.-W.-B. 
Art.  "Wein." 

Ver.  3.  His  left  hand  (isl  under  my  head 
and  his  right  embraces  me.  This  verse  is  not 
a  mere  phrase  to  luark  the  termination  of  a  sec- 
lion,  and  unconnected  with  what  precedes  (HiT- 
xig).  It  rather  stands  in  the  same  sort  of  con- 
nection with  the  detailed  description  given  vii.  18 
ff.  of  what  the  two  lovers  would  d.i  and  enjoy  to- 
gether in  Shulamith's  home,  that  ii.  6  does  with 
the  preceding  representation  of  their  mutual  en- 
joyment of  nature  and  of  love,  i.  Itjff.;  ii.  3  if . 
Only  there  Shulamith  was  depicting  the  present, 
whilst  here  .slie  vividly  portraysjoys  belonging  to 
the  future;  though  not  in  an  optative  form,  as 
EwALD,  Vaih.,  etc.,  assume  without  sufficient 
reason. 

Ver.  4.  I  adjure  you,  ye  daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem, elc- — On  the  significance  of  this  exclama- 
tion here  as  Shulamith's  farewell  to  the  daughters 
of  Jerusalem  (which  HiTZiG  too  has  seen  with 
substantial  correctness),  see  on  ii.  7  above.  Only 
it  is  not  necessary  with  Vaih.  to  impute  the  brev- 
ity of  its  form  to  the  excited  and  reproachful 
tone  in  which  Shulamith,  who  had  been  affronted 
by  the  ladies  of  the  court,  here  speaks. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

1.  The  churchly  allegorical  exegesis  is  neces- 
sarily precluded  from  gaining  an  insight  into  the 
progress  of  the  action  in  the  act  before  us.  It 
finds  every  where  figurative  representations  of 
soteriological  mysteries  with  no  inner  organic 
connection  ;  shitting  figures,  the  aim  of  which 
lies  in  the  repeated  exhibition  of  the  central  point 
of  Christian  truth,  the  conversion,  justification, 
sanctification  and  perfection  of  the  sinner  by  the 
grace  of  the  Redeemer,  or  the  call  and  election 
of  the  whole  church  to  the  saving  communion  of 
God  in  Christ.  Thus  the  narrative  of  the  dream, 
T.  2-7,  together  with  the  following  dialogue,  as 
far  as  vi.  3,  that  is  to  say,  the  first  scene  accord- 
ing to  our  division  seems  to  it  to  be  a  dramatic 
representation,  which  is  already  complete,  of  the 
apostasy  and  restoration  of  the  Church,  or  of  the 
fall  and  redemption  of  mankind.  This  one  sec- 
tion constitutes,  .as  it  were,  the  Canticles  in  brief, 
a  poetic  picture  of  the  entire  history  of  redemp- 
tion from  first  to  last.  This  representation  opens, 
according  to  Hengstenb.  (p.  135),  ivith  a  "dark 
scene,"  or  night  piece.  The  apostasy  of  unbe- 
lieving mankind  from  their  God,  and  especially 
the  rejection  of  the  Saviour  by  the  daughter  of 
Zion.  together  with  the  punishment  of  induration 
and  blindness  which  overtook  her  in  consecfuence, 
are  so  distinctly  set  forth  by  the  dream-like  fig- 
ures of  Shulamith's  sleep,  her  lover's  vain  desire 
to  be  admitted,  his  subsequent  disappearance,  and 
the  fruitless  search  for  him.  and  finally  by  the 
blows  which  the  watchmen  (the  "heavenly  min- 
isters of  vengeance")  administered  to  her  during 
her  search,  that  the  whole  forms,  so  to  speak,  a 
fit  accompaniment  to  Isa.  liii.  and  likewise 
an  illustration  of  Rom.  xi.  7,  "the  election  hath 
obtained  it  and  the  rest  were  blinded."  or  of 
Rom.  xi.  25,  26.  And  then  again  the  representa- 
tion is  directed  to  the  goal  of  the  ultimate  con- 
version of  Israel  and  the  consequent  consumma- 
tion of  the  entire  redemptive  process.     For  for- 


saken and  repelled  by  her  lover,  she  nevertheless 
continues  always  sick  with  love  and  longing  for 
him  (v.  8);  in  answer  to  the  question  proposed 
to  test  her,  what  she  thinks  of  her  lover  (v.  9), 
she  exhibits  a  heart  full  of  love  and  submission 
to  the  heavenly  Solomon,  as  the  ideal  of  all  ex- 
cellence (v.  10-16) ;  finally  she  answers  the  sec- 
ond question  also,  which  is  addressed  to  her  to 
pave  the  way  for  her  reunion  with  her  heavenly 
bridegroom,  in  a  concrete  manner  (vi.  1-3),  since 
in  her  answer  to,  Where  has  thy  beloved  gone? 
she  ungrudgingly  recognizes  that  he  has  his  be- 
ing in  the  Church,  and  in  consequence  of  this  rec- 
ognition the  former  relation  may  be  regarded  as 
restored. — So  Hengstenbero,  whose  view  may 
be  regarded  as  the  idealizing  recapitulation  of  all 
former  churchly-allegorical  interpretations  of 
this  section. — The  following  portions  also  depict 
according  to  him  the  one  main  object  of  the  song 
again  and  again — the  restoration  of  the  loving 
relation  between  the  Lord  and  His  Church,  which 
originally  existed,  was  then  disturbed  and  broken 
oflf,  and  has  finally  been  cemented  again.  Ch.vi. 
4-10  does  this  in  tlie  form  of  praises  of  the  beauty 
of  the  bride,  and  a  comparison  of  her  with  all 
other  women,  who  constitute  the  household  of  the 
heavenly  Solomon.  Ch.  vi.  11 — vii.  1  in  the  form 
of  a  narrative  by  the  daughter  of  Zion  of  the  way 
in  which  she  attained  to  the  high  dignity  of  a 
bride  of  heaven's  king,  together  witli  a  blessing 
bestowed  upon  her  by  the  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem, who  express  their  heartfelt  joy  at  her  return 
from  her  wanderings,  and  at  the  distinguished 
graces  which  have  in  consequence  been  imparted 
to  her ;  ch.  vii.  2-11,  in  the  form  of  a  new  pane- 
gyric pronounced  by  the  king  upon  the  daughter 
of  Zion,  who  has  returned  to  him  from  her  stray- 
ing, and  consequently  to  her  former  beauty, — to 
which  is  further  added  the  expression  of  his  de- 
termination to  enjoy  her  charms,  and  her  cordial 
]  assent  to  this  determination  (vii.  8-11);  and 
;  finally,  vii.  12  to  viii.  4,  in  the  form  of  a  prayer 
j  from  the  daughter  of  Zion  to  her  heavenly  lover, 
]  to  restore  to  her  his  ancient  love,  and,  far  from 
the  tumult  of  this  sinful  world,  in  rural  retire- 
ment and  seclu-sion,  to  live  with  her  as  her  bro- 
ther.— The  explanations  of  the  older  allegorists 
are  still  richer  in  repetitions  and  in  correspond- 
t  ing  measure  poorer  in  true  inward  progress. 
One  of  their  number,  e.  g.,  Staree  (who  closely 
follows  Marck,  Ain-sworth,  Michael.,  ttc.)  para- 
phrases vi.  2,  3,  so  as  to  make  the  bride  set  forth 
"the  delightful  feelings  resulting  from  the  spe- 
cial presence  of  the  bridegroom  of  her  soul, 
which  she  has  just  experienced  in  her  heart," 
describing  thus  Christ's  control  in  the  spice  gar- 
den of  His  Church,  i.  e.,  in  the  hearts  of  the  true 
children  of  God,  wherein  the  whole  work  of  sal- 
vation by  the  Lord  in  the  word  and  sacraments, 
.and  His  operations  on  individual  souls,  planting, 
fostering,  preserving  .and  perfecting,  is  briefly 
exhibited.  Ch.  viL  I  ho  then  paraphrases  thus: 
"Return,  return  to-  rae  and  to  thyself  from  the 
confusion,  in  which  thou  wert,,  before  I  revealed 
myself  again  to  thee  (v.  6;  Ps.  cxvi.  7),  0  Shu- 
lanrith',  who  hast  obtained  peace  with  God,  right- 
eousness and  strength  in  communion  with  me;  re- 
turn again,  banish  all  gloomy  and  timorous 
thoughts.  I  shall  ever  remain  thy  Jesus,  thy 
Saviour   and  Benefactor.      Fix  only  a  conSiia^' 


-VIII.  4. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


12S 


heart  again  on  me,  thy  soul's  friend,  that  we,  viz.  I, 
thy  Redeemer,  with  my  Father  who  loves  thee  in 
me,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  may  look  upon  thee,  i.  e., 
may  have  our  delight  and  joy  in  thee  as  a  perfect 
mirror  of  spiritual  beauty."  And  in  viii.  1  the 
same  interpreter  remarks  upon  the  words, 
'•Should  Ifind  thee  without,  I  would  kiss  thee," 
etc.:  If  I  find  thee  without, ;.  e.,  meet  thee  outside  of 
my  mother's  house,  while  1  live  in  the  foreign  land 
and  the  pilgrimage  of  this  world  (2  Cor.  v.  0-"J),  I 
will  kiss  thee  with  the  kiss  of  faith,  love  and 
obedience,  yea,  give  thee  all  conceiv.ible  tokens 
of  my  sincere  and  ardent  love  (Ps.  ii.  12  ;  Hos. 
xiii.  2  ;  Job  xsxi.  27).  And  no  one  should  put 
me  to  shame,  least  of  all  they,  to  whom  I  appear 
80  despicable,  and  who  scoff  at  me  when  I  boa^-t 
of  my  communion  with  thee  and  declare  tliy 
praise  (v.  7 ;  Gen.  xxxviii.  23,  etc.,  etc.)."  In 
short,  every  possible  tiling  is  here  found  in  every 
thing,  and  the  simple  meaning  of  the  words  is 
almost  every  where  sacrificed  to  the  superabun- 
dant fancy  of  a  dogmatical  and  mystical  interpre- 
tation. 

2.  The  proper  antithesis  to  such  excesses  can 
surely  not  lie  in  banishing  with  the  profane-ero- 
tic exegesis  every  thing  sacred  from  the  course 
of  the  action  here  presented,  and  converting  it, 
.■va  is  done  particularly  by  Hitziq  and  Renan, 
into  a  succession  of  voluptuous  scenes  in  the  ha- 
rem, without  order  or  progress.  This  view  be- 
comes really  repulsive,  especially  where  it  main- 
tains tliat  tlie  poet  brings  Solomon's  love  for  other 
favorites  than  Shulamith  before  his  readers  or 
spectators  by  a  detailed  description  of  his  amor- 
ous intercourse  with  them  ;  that  he  describes  with 
particularity  by  word  and  act  how  the  king  turns 
wearied  away  from  the  coy  Shulamith,  to  ''in- 
demnify" himself  with  the  other  beauties  of  his 
harem.  HiTziG's  e.tegesis  on  the  passage  vii. 
2-11  based  on  (his  understanding  of  it,  even 
lIoTTCHER  indignantly  pronounces  one  that 
"  culminates  in  the  disgustingly  vulgar," — a 
judgment  that  might  with  equal  reason  be  passed 
upon  Re.van's  treatment  of  the  same  section.  But 
even  in  its  more  moderate  form,  as  advanced  by 
Hekdeb,  Umbr.,  Ew.,  Vaih.,  etc.,  the  shepherd  hy- 
pothesis invariably  involves  much  that  is  of  doubt- 
ful morality,  by  which  the  religious  and  ethical 
character  of  the  section  before  us  is  sensibly 
damaged  iu  several  points.  Solomon's  character 
especially  suffers  more  than  is  just,  inasmuch  as 
there  is  heaped  upon  him  besides  the  reproach 
of  polygamy  with  its  excesses,  that  of  an  assidu- 
ous attempt  ,at  seduction  and  a  corrupting  as- 
sault upon  female  innocence,  an  actually  adulter- 
ous procedure  therefore, — which  especially  in  the 
so-called  "final  assault,"  vii.  2-10,  comes  into 
unseemly  contrast  with  the  alleged  fidelity  of  the 
maiden  to  a  distant  lover.  Shulamith's  charac- 
ter, too,  appears  on  this  view  less  fair  and  great 
than  in  ours;  the  extravagance,  not  to  say  the 
braggart  character  of  the  description  given  of 
her  lover,  v.  10-lfi,  if  this  refers  to  a  plain  young 
shepherd,  is  particularly  offensive  ;  so  is  the  ex- 
cited pathos  of  the  appeal  which,  according  to 
this  view,  is  directed  to  a  far  distant  lover  to  go 
with  her  into  the  country,  vii.  12  ff.  Some  of  the 
finest  and  loveliest  traits  in  the  picture  of  this 
noble  woman  are  wholly  lost,  especially  the  sym- 
bolic significance  of  her  dream,  v.  2-7;  the  lovely 


gentleness  with  which  she  seeks  by  her  evasive 
answer  in  vi.  2,  3,  to  excuse  her  absent  hus- 
band; the  adroitness  with  which  she  interrupts 
him  (vii.  10)  in  order  wholly  to  disarm  and  cap- 
tivate him ;  the  genuine  womanly  naivete  with 
which,  in  her  picture  of  the  innocent  joys  of  their 
life  together  in  the  country,  she  inserts,  viii.  2,  a 
hint  of  the  instruction  which  she  hopes  to  receive 
from  her  lover,  etc. 

3.  Tlie  typical  Messianic  view  avoids  these 
faults  in  a  manner  which  really  satisfies  both  the 
aesthetic  and  the  religious  feeling.  It  through- 
out gives  due  prominence  alike  to  light  and  shade, 
and  while  it  sets  forth  in  all  its  rigor  the  con- 
flict of  the  lovely,  chaste  and  pure  child  of  na- 
ture with  the  corrupt  manners  of  the  court  and 
her  royal  lover  who  shared  them,  it  nevertheless 
paves  the  way  likewise  for  a  truly  blessed  recon- 
ciliation and  removal  of  this  conflict  by  showing 
how  Shulamith's  urgency  to  return  to  her  coun- 
try home,  lays  the  foundation  for  a  change  of 
mind  in  her  husband,  and  for  satisfying  her 
boldest  and  highest  wishes.  The  true  power  of 
love  in  the  humble  maiden  thus  shines  in  its  most 
glorious  light,  and  the  lover  who  at  first  resisted  is 
drawn  along  by  it;  his  resistance  to  the  sanctity  of 
the  marriage  connection  is  overcome  by  the  purity 
of  her  feelings. — When  put  in  a  parallel  with  the 
relation  of  Christ  to  His  Church,  this  episode  from 
the  story  of  the  love  of  Solomon  and  Shulamith 
certainly  exhibits  more  disparity  than  resem- 
blance. But  it  forms  also  just  that  section  of  the 
story,  in  which  the  dissimilarity  of  the  two  rela- 
tions must  naturally  come  most  strongly  out,  in 
some  parts  of  it  almost  to  the  obliteration  of 
every  trace  of  similitude.  And  yet  there  remain 
even  here  significant  analogies  enough  to  es- 
tablish the  essentially  Messianic  character  of  the 
whole.  Above  all  the  glowing  description  of  the 
beauty  of  the  lover,  v.  10-16,  which  is  only  ap- 
plicable to  Solomon,  not  to  any  of  his  subjects, 
points  to  the  King  of  all  kings  as  the  heavenly 
prototype  of  that  king,  as  the  possessor  of  an 
eternal  glory  which  far  outshines  the  splendor  of 
the  earthly  Solomon.  Mankind  seeking  after 
God,  and  craving  His  salvation,  the  antitype  in 
the  history  of  redemption  of  the  earthly  Shula- 
mith, by  its  earnest  and  continued  longing,  wait- 
ing, entreating  and  imploring,  succeeds  in  mov- 
ing this  heavenly  Solomon  to  give  up  his  glory 
and  enter  into  its  low  estate,  as  she  moves  her 
lord  and  king  to  the  resolve  to  live  with  her  in 
her  mother's  house,  and  to  partake  with  her  of 
all  the  simple  country  enjoyments  and  pleasures 
which  this  house,  with  its  surroundings,  could 
offer  him  and  her.  In  this  parallel  there  cer- 
tainly lies  a  prophecy  of  the  fulfilling  of  that 
which  is  written,  John  xiv.  23.  '•  If  a  man  love 
me,  he  will  keep  my  words  ;  and  my  Father  will 
love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make 
our  abode  with  him;"  likewise  of  2  Cor.  vi.  16 
(Lev.  xxvl.  11 ;  Hebr.  viii.  10).  "  I  will  dwell  in 
them,  and  walk  in  them ;  and  I  will  be  their  God, 
and  they  shall  be  my  people  ;"  as  well  as  of  Rev. 
xxi.  3,  "BpIioM.  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with 
men,  and  lli'  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall 
be  His  people,  and  He  himself,  God  with  them, 
shall  be  their  Go<l."  That  significant  phrase  too, 
"  thou  wouldst  instruct  me,"  viii.  2,  points  to  th» 
higher  stage  of  divine  revelation  to  which  maa- 


124 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


V.  2— VIII.  4. 


kind  has  been  exalted  under  the  New  Teetament, 
in  the  same  manner  as  Isa.  liv.  13  (John  vi.  45): 
"And  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the 
Lord;"  or  as  Jer.  xxxi.  33  (Heb.  viii.  10  ff.): 
"  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and 
write  it  in  their  hearts; — and  they  shall  teach 
no  more  every  man  his  neighbor,  saying.  Know 
the  Lord;  for  they  shall  all  know  me  from  the 
least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the 
Lord,"  (comp.  Joel  iii.  1  f.  ;  Acts  ii.  Ifi  f. ;  1 
John  ii.  27,  etc.). — But  certainly, — and  herein 
lies  the  exaltation  of  the  New  Testament  Solo- 
mon above  the  Old,  and  the  superiority  of  the 
New  Testament  covenant  of  grace,  as  compared 
with  the  marriiige  covenant  between  Solomon  and 
Shulamith — no  express  entreaty  with  flattering 
words  and  persistent  supplication  was  needed  to 
bring  down  the  Lord  of  the  New  Covenant  to  His 
own.  Even  if  here  and  there  in  His  parables  He 
assumes  the  air  of  the  reluctant  friend  or  the 
unmercifuljudge.  nnd  thus  seems  to  impose  upon 
His  own  people  the  duty  of  importunate  begging 
and  crying  (Luke  xi.  5-8;  xviii.  1-7),  this  is 
purposely  done  that  the  contrast  between  human 
hard-heartedness  and  His  own  infinitely  merci- 
ful and  prevenientlove,  may  induce  to  a  heartier 
confidence  in  the  latter.  His  becoming  poor  in 
order  to  make  us  rich.  His  emptying  and  hum- 
bling Himself  to  the  form  of  a  servant  was  pre- 
venient  throughout,  with  no  merit  or  worthiness 
on  the  part  of  man  ;  yea,  so  that  He  "  wns  found 
of  them  that  sought  Him  not,  and  was  made  mani- 
fest unto  them  that  asked  not  after  Him  "  (Rom. 
X.  20;  Isa.  Ixv.  1).  Of  His  coming  to  His  own 
it  may  in  truth  be  said: 

"  You  do  not  need  to  labor. 

Nor  stnie^le  day  and  night, 
To  IjrinK  Him  down  from  heaven, 

By  efforts  of  your  might. 
He  comes  of  His  own  motion, 

Is  fnll  of  love  and  grace. 
Your  every  grief  and  sorrow 

He'll  utterly  efface." 

And  besides  it  is  a  real  and  substantial  glory, 
which  He  gives  up  and  forsakes  from  love  to  the 
poor  children  of  men,  not  a  mere  seeming  glory, 
full  of  «in  and  vanity,  like  that  of  the   earthly 


Solomon.  His  love  to  the  poor  damsel  of  earth 
is  so  utterly  unselfish  that  He  gives  everything 
and  receives  nothing,  whilst  she  can  givenothinf 
but  only  receive  (comp.  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  's 
fable  of  the  rich  king  Christ,  and  the  fair  damsel 
"Poverty").  Nay,  she  does  not  even  possess  sis 
her  own  those  "excellent  fruits,  new  and  old," 
with  which  she  was  to  regale  her  gracious  and 
heavenly  guest  upon  his  entrance  into  her  mother's 
house.  But  it  is  her  lover,  and  He  alone,  who 
makes  the  seed  of  His  divine  word  bring  forth  in 
her  good  and  worthy  fruit,  which  endureth  unto 
everlasting  life.  It  is  He  alone  who  makes  her 
rich  in  all  the  fruits  of  (he  Spirit  and  of  righteous- 
ness (Phil.  i.  11  ;  Gal.  v.  22,  etc  ).  He  alone  dis- 
tributes the  precious  wine  of  joy  at  the  table  of 
His  grace,  by  which  He  solemnly  seals  and  con- 
firms with  His  earthly  bride,  the  covenant  of  His 
love,  established  by  His  bloody  sacrificial  dealli 
(comp.  .John  ii.  1-11).  And  while  Shul.imith's  en- 
treaty of  her  royal  lord  and  husband  "0  that  thou 
wert  likemy  brother,  who  sucked  the  breasts  of  my 
mother"  (viii.  1 )  can  only  be  made  in  the  most  re- 
stricted sense, — while  she,  upon  a  calm  and  sober 
view  of  the  case  at  least,  can  expect  no  more  than 
a  transient  coming  down  of  her  lover  into  her  pov- 
erty and  retirement,  the  heavenly  bridegroom  of 
theChurch,  on  the  contrary,  comes  not  only  once 
and  in  the  fullest  truth,  but  for  ever  as  our  bro- 
ther on  the  earth.  He  "is  not  ashamed  to  (-mH 
all  them,  whom  He  redeems,  His  brethren"  (Heli. 
ii.  11  ;  comp.  John  xx.  17).  He  is  made  partaker 
of  their  earthly  flesh  and  blood  in  order  to  raise 
them  from  being  slaves  of  sin  and  death  to  be 
children  of  God  and  heirs  of  His  eternal,  heuveuly 
blessedness  (Heb.  ii.  14,  15;  John  viii.  32-36). 
— Thus  set  in  the  light  of  His  deeds  of  redeeming 
love,  this  section  of  the  Canticles  becomes  a  song 
of  praise  to  the  grace  of  the  Lord,  which  workelh 
all  in  all,  a  hymn  of  glory  to  that  inscrutable 
mystery  of  the  Divine  mercy,  of  which  Paul  ex- 
claims, Rom.  xi.  34  f.:  "For  who  hath  known 
the  mind  of  the  Lord?  or  who  hath  been  His 
counsellor?  Or  who  hath  first  given  to  Him  and 
it  shall  be  recompensed  unto  him  again?  For  of 
Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him,  are  all 
things;  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever.   Amen." 


\  III.  5-14.  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  125 


FIFTH  SONG. 

The  return  home  and  the  triumph  of  the  chaste  love  of  the  wife  over  the  unchaste  feelings  of  her  royck 

husband. 

Chap.  VIII.  5—14. 

rm  S  T    S  C  E  N  E: 

The  arrival  home. 

(Vers.  5-7.) 

Country  people  (in  the  fields  at  Shunem). 

5  Who'  is  this  coniiug  up  out  of  the  wilderness, 

leaning  upon  her  beloved  ? 

Solomon  (entering  arm  in  arm  with  Shulamith). 

Under"  this'  apple  tree  I  waked  thee  ;* 
there^  thy*  mother  travailed'  with  thee, 
there  travailed  she  that  bare  thee. 

Shulamith  (familiarly  pressing  up  close  to  her  lover). 

6  Place'  me  as  a  signet  ring  upon  thy  heart, 

as  a  signet-ring  upon  thine  arm. 
For  strong  as  death  is  love, 
hard  as  SheoP  is  jealousy 
Its  flames'"  are  flames  of  fire, 
a  blaze  of  Jehovah." 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

*  [WiCL.:  The  voice  of  the  synagogue,  of  the  church.     Mat.:  The  synagogue  speaking  of  the  church.] 

-  [WicL. :  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  synagogue,  of  the  holy  cross.  Under  an  apple  tree  I  reared  thee.  Mat.:  The  voice 
of  tlie  spouse  before  the  spousess.  Gov.,  M.at.:  I  am  the  same  that  waked  thee  up  among  the  apple  trees.  Bi3H. :  I  waked 
tliee  up  among,  etc.    Oenev.:  I  raised  thee  up  under  an  [Enq.  Ver.:  thej  apple  tree.] 

■^  n-i^nn  deictic:  " this  apple  tree." 

*  We  read  •^j'lTTIlj;. 

*  7\3^  we  take  to  be  synonymous  with  Qtl'  as  in  Jer.  xviii.  2 ;  2  King^  xxiii.  8,  etc. 

TT  T 

Here  too  we  read  the  fem.  suf.  Ij^X  ITH/Sn  and  at  the  end  of  the  verse  ^Hl /^  (or  with  the  Sept.,  VtjLO.,  Sra. 

"   iZVi  here  as  well  as  in  Ps.  vii.  15  is  taken  by  Ibn  Ezra  and  HlTzm  in  the  sense  of  '*  conceiving "  [so  Gknev.;  coc- 

eeived] ;  but  the  meaning  of  writhing  with  pain,  travailing  {itBivttv)  is  more  obvious  and  better  confirmed  by  73n,  0**7311. 

.Vt  all  events,  we  must  reject  Meier's  explanation:  "there  thy  mother  betrothed  thee"  (in  like  manner  Scrdltens,  .J.  D. 
MicHASLid,  Magnus)  [so  too  Percy,  Good,  Williams,  Burrowes  and  others] ;  for  even  if  the  sense  of  pledging  or  betrothing 

were  certainly  established  for  the  Piel  of  73n.  it  would  still  require  ''?  to  mr,  for  its  more  exact  limitation.    The  VuLC. 

(comipta  est^vinlntt  e^O  with  still  less  propriety  has  tsiken  7311  in  the  sense  of  "corrupting"  (in  like  manner  Aqdila: 
iieifrflapTj).  Ctn  the  contrary,  the  Sept.  correctly  :  exet  ui^iirritriv  ae  ij  ixrjTrjp  gov.  [Wicl.:  there  shamed  is  thy  mother,  there 
dp; filed  is  she  that  gat  thee.  Bow.:  "there  thy  mother  was  corrupted,  there  she  was  deflowered  that  bare  thee;"  to  which  is 
appended  the  note:  "under  the  apple  tree  I  raised  thee  up;  tliat  is.  that  Christ  redeemed  the  Gentiles  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  where  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews  (the  mother  church)  was  corrupted  by  their  denying  HiM  and  crucifying  Uim."l 

8  [Mat.:  The  church  speaking  to  Christ.] 

»  [  WiCL.,  Cov.,  Max.,  Cran..  Bish.,  Dow.:  hell.    Genev.,  Enq.  Ver.:  the  grave.] 

1"  [Wicl.,  Dow.:  lamps.     Other  English  versions :  coals.] 

"    In  (Tn^niiy  the  Masorah  has  connected  the  genitive  n'  vrith  the  construct, as  in  ri'SaSO  Jer.  ii.31,  andasinpro- 
T  :'■■'.':  ~  T  T  :  ■■  :  - 

per  names  compounded  with  H"  or  in"  (the  abbreviation  of  niH").   The  recension  of  Ben  Asher  retains  this  mode  of  writing 

the  expression  as  a  compound,  while  that  of  Ben  Naputau  separates  the  words.  Thei^Adyes  auj^i  of  theSEPTUAOiNT  isbased 

iipptn  this  contraction  into  one  word.    Ewald  and  Hitzio  needlessly  conjecture  that  the  original  reading  was  HTl^nSty 

n"   niin /ty  "its  flames  are  flames  of  God."    The  analogy  of  the  preceding  sentences  rather  requires,  as  Weissbach  cor- 

T  ~:  :  ~ 

rertly  observes,  the  giving  of  two  predicates  to  the  single  subject  n'SE'l.     It  is,  therefore,  properly  to  be  translated  "  its 

dames  are  flames  of  fire,  they  are  a  blaze  of  God."  On  the  etymology  of  jl^hbt!' as  a  compound  of  ^K  and  n^n'?  compare 

Weissbach  in  loc.  [The  ty  is  servile,  such  as  marks  the  Shaphel  species  in  Coalb.  and  SvR.  See  Oesen.  and  FuEEST's  Leii- 
OII3.     Cov.,  Mat.:  a  vei-j*  flame  of  the  Lord.    Genev.:  a  vehement  flame.    Enq.  Ver.:  a  most  vehement  flame.] 


126  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON.  VIU.  6-14. 

7  Many  waters  cannot 

quench  love, 

and  rivers  shall  not  wash'  it  away. 

If  a  man  were  to  give 

all  the  wealth  of  his  house  for  love, 

he  would  be  utterly  contemned. 

SECOND     SCENE: 

Shulamith  with  her  lover  (in  the  circle  of  her  friends.) 

(Vers.  8-14.) 
Shulamith. 

8  A^  sister  we  have,  little 

and  she  has  no  breasts  ; 

what  shall  we  do  for'  our  sister 

in  the  day  that  she  shall  be  spoken  for?* 

Shulamith's  Brothers. 

9  If  ^  she  be  a  wall, 

we  will  build  upon  her  a  silver  castle ; 

but  if  she  be  a  door, 

we  will  stop  her  up  with  a  cedar  board. 

Shulamith. 

10  I*  was  a  wall 

and  my  breasts  like  towers. 
Then  was  I  in  his  eyes 
as  one  that  finds  peace. — 

11  Solomon'  has*  a  vineyard  in  Baal-hamon. 

He  committed  the  vineyard  to  the  keepers, 
each  was  to  bring  for  its  fruit 
a  thousand  of  silver. 

12  My'  vineyard,  my  own,"  is  before  me  ; 

the  thousand  is  thine,  Solomon, 

and  two  hundred  for  the  keepers  of  its  fruit. 

Solomon. 

13  Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  gardens, 

companions  are  listening  for  thy  voice  ; 
let  me  hear  it. 

1  *1EDE'  is  neither  "  to  deluge  "  (Ewald),  nor  "  overflow  "  (Delitzsch,  Hengstenberq),  nor  *'  choke  up  "  with  sediait^nt 

(RosENM.),  but  "  wash  away,  sweep  away,"  as  is  shown  by  Jol)  xiv.  19 ;  comp.  Isa.  xxviii.  17  f.;  Ezek.  xvi.  9. 

2  fWlCL.:  The  voice  of  Christ  to  the  lineage  of  holy  church.  Mat.:  Christ  speaking  of  the  churcli  to  the  synagociu. 
Note  in  Geneva  Bible:  The  Jewish  church  speuketh  this  of  the  church  of  the  Gentiles.  Gov.,  Mat.:  When  our  love  is  i.il<l 
our  young  sister,  whose  breaats  are  not  yet  grown,  what  shall  we  do  unto  her 't] 

3  On    7   nC'^5~nD  "what  shall  we  do  in  respect  to."  etc.,  comp.  1  Sam.  x.  2;  also  Gen.  xxvii.  37. 

^  3  "13T  i^  neither  "to  speak  to  any  one,"  nor  "to  speak  about  any  one,"  whether  in  a  good  or  a  bad  sense  (Do:.- 
DERL.,  Weissb.),  but  simply  and  only  "  to  speak  for  any  cue  "  ( 3  prep,  of  the  end  or  aim,  as  in  7  b),  i.  c,  to  sue  for  any 

one,  to  woo  a  maid  (1  Sam.  xxv.  39). 

6  [Mat.:  The  answer  of  Christ  for  the  church.] 

6  [WicL.:  The  voice  of  the  church  answering.  Mat.:  The  church  answereth  to  the  synagogue.  Gov.,  Mat.;  If  1  be 
a  wall  and  my  bre<ists  like  towers,  then  am  1  as  one  that  hath  found  favor  in  his  sight.] 

'  [WicL.;  The  synagogue  of  the  church  saith.  Vine  she  was  to  peaceable  in  her  that  hath  peoples;  she  took  it  to  liio 
keepers;  a  man  taketh  away  for  the  fruit  of  it,  a  thou.sand  silver  plates.  Dow.:  The  peaceable  had  a  vineyard  in  tb:it 
which  hath  people.     Mat.  :  The  synagogue  speaking  to  the  church.] 

8  rlD7^7    7y*T\    0*^3    literally  "a  vineyard  became   Solomon's,"  i.e.,  he  has  it  now  (comp.  Ps.  ciix.  56,  83;  aI?o 

:  '        T  T 
Ezek.  xvi.  8),  not,  he  had  it  once,  as  though  Solomon  were  here  spoken  of  as  a  ruler  long  since  dead  (Ewalb,  Hitzio,  lic. ,. 

9  [WicL.:  Christ  to  the  church  .saith.  Mat,:  'J'hc  voice  of  Christ.  Gov.,  Mat.:  But  my  vineyard,  O  Solomon.  givMti 
thee  a  tliousand,  and  two  hundred  to  the  keepers  of  the  fruit.  Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  gardens,  0  let  me  hear  thy 
voice,  that  my  companions  may  he:irken  to  the  s;ime.] 

to  On  the  diftcrent  explanations  of  *7E?    ^0*^3  see  on  i.  6,  p.  56. 


Vm.  5-14. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


127 


Shulamith  (singing). 

14  Flee,"  my  beloved, 

and  be  like  a  gazelle, 

or  a  young  hart 

upon  mountains  of  spices.' 

1  [WiCL.,  Mat.;  The  voice  of  the  church  to  Christ.  WicL.:  Flee  thou,  my  love ;  be  thou  likened  to  a  capret  and  to 
an  hart,  calf  of  harts,  upon  the  mountains  of  sweet  spices.  Gov.,  Mat.:  O  get  thee  away,  my  love,  as  a  roe  or  a  young 
hart  unto  the  sweet  smelling  mountains.  The  end  of  the  Ballet  of  Ballets  of  Solomon,  called  in  Latin  Canticum  Qin- 
Hcorwn.'l 

»  Od  die  general  usage  of  D'DC'3  comp.  iv.  14;  v.  13;  vi.  2. 


EXEGETICAL  AND    CRITICAL. 

1.  Some  of  the  more  recent  interpreters  dis- 
member this  last  act,  by  attaching  part  of  it  to  the 
preceding  section,  and  regarding  the  remainder 
as  an  appendix  or  epilogue  to  the  whole.  Thus 
Uhbreit  extends  the  last  act  of  the  piece  to  viii. 
7,  which  is  then  followed  by  viii.  8-12  as  a  first 
appendix,  "  The  shrewd  old  brothers  and  the 
naively  jesting  sister ;"  and  viii.  13, 14  as  a  second 
appendix,  "The  unlucky  trip  to  the  country." 
In  like  manner  Renan,  who  regards  the  fifth  act 
as  ending  with  viii.  7,  and  the  remaining  seven 
verses  as  forming  an  epilogue.  On  the  contrary 
V.  Hi)F.w\NN  connects  vers.  5-12  with  his  last 
main  division  of  the  whole  (vi.  1 — viii.  12),  and 
considers  the  last  two  verses  only,  vers.  13,  14, 
as  an  appendix. — -DiiPKE  and  Magnus  push  the 
process  of  dismemberment  to  the  greatest  length, 
the  former  of  whom  divides  this  section  into  three 
separate  songs  (5-7;  8-12;  13,  14).  The  latter 
makes  it  consist  of  four  small  pieces,  a  lyric 
poem:  "The  parting"  (5-7),  two  dramatic  epi- 
grams (8-10  and  11,  12),  and  a  fragment  with  sev- 
eral glosses  (13,  14). — A  correct  apprehension 
of  the  unity  of  this  section  as  one  whole,  sepa- 
rated from  the  preceding  by  the  solemn  introduc- 
tory formula  Ul  HSt  '0  "Who  is  this,"  etc.,  is 
found  in  Ewald,  Hitz.,  Del.,  Hengstenb.,  Vaih., 
BoTTCHER,  Weissb.  Only  some  of  these,  espe- 
cially the  last  named,  go  too  far  in  their  asser- 
tion of  the  compactness  and  continuity  of  the 
passage,  since  they  fail  to  recognize  the  differ- 
ence between  the  two  scenes,  which  it  unmistaka- 
bly contains.  For  in  vers.  5-7  there  is  evidently 
represented  a  return  home,  and  iu  vers.  8  ff.  a 
transaction  after  arriving  home.  The  former  of 
these  paragraphs  exhibit  the  principiil  couple  of 
the  piece  as  still  travelling,  although  quite  near 
the  end  of  their  journey.  The  latter  depicts 
their  acts  and  doings  at  home  in  the  circle  of 
Shulamith's  family,  where  merry  jesis  and  peace- 
ful enjoyment,  reign.  The  two  scenes  of  such 
different  character  are  therefore  related  exactly 
as  in  the  third  act;  only  there  tlie  excited  tumult 
of  the  capital  and  the  noisy  bustle  of  the  royal 
palace  on  Zion  resounding  with  luxurious  festi- 
vities, formed  tlie  background  of  the  action, 
wliilst  here  an  innocent  rural  seclusion  and  sim- 
plicity, a  cheerful,  quiet  life  under  apple  trees, 
in  gardens,  and  on  mountains  fragrant  willi 
spices,  is  depicted  as  a  bright  and  peaceful  ter- 
mination of  the  whole  matter. 

2.  Witlt  respect  to  the  time  and  place  of  the 
action,  no  well  grounded  doubt  can  exist,  on  tlie 


supposition  that  the  contents  and  meaning  of  the 
preceding  act  have  been  correctly  understood. 
Solomon  must  have  yielded  to  the  urgent  entrea- 
ties of  his  beloved,  and  immediately  arranged  a 
journey  to  her  home  and  started  with  her,  so 
that  at  the  utmost  there  can  only  be  an  interval 
of  three  or  four  days  between  this  and  the  fore- 
going act.  Various  indications  suggest  Shunem, 
the  home  of  Shulamith,  as  the  goal  toward  which 
the  loving  pair  are  journeying,  and  consequently 
as  the  locality  of  this  act;  especially  the  intro- 
ductory passage,  ver.  5,  rightly  understood  and 
interpreted,  and  also  the  mention  of  Shulamith's 
little  sister,  ver.  8  f.,  her  "abiding  in  the  gar- 
dens," ver.  13,  as  well  as  the  "  mountains  of 
spices"  or  "mountains  of  balm,"  ver.  14,  which 
remind  us  of  ii.  17. — Partly  on  account  of  the  in- 
troductory words,  which  are  identical  with  iii.  6, 
"  Who  is  this  coming  up  out  of  the  wilderness?" 
partly    on    account    of    the    masc.     suffixes    in 

ymiU',  px  -jn^an,  etc  (according  to  the  Ma- 
soretic  punctuation),  which  appear  to  show  that 
the  passage  refers  not  to  Shulamith's  but  to  Solo- 
mon's birth-place,  Weissbach  (as  also  Dopke, 
etc.,  before  him)  explains  and  assumes  the  royal 
j  palace  on  Zion  to  be  the  place  of  this  action; 
vers.  5  ff.  describe  the  arrival  of  the  lovers  there 
from  the  royal  gardens  (or  more  exactly  from  the 
"path  or  pasture  ground  of  the  roy.al  flocks, 
which  is  to  be  sought  between  Zion  and  the 
king's  gardens")  ;  the  rest  of  the  action  is  then 
performed  on  Zion  itself  But  the  correctness 
of  the  Masoretic  reading  in  that  passage  is 
more  than  doubtful  (see  just  below,  No.  3) ; 
and  it  is  only  by  the  greatest  forcing  that  all 
that  follows,  especially  vers.  8  f.,  11  ff.  and  ver. 
13,  can  be  brought  into  harmony  with  this  trans- 
fer of  the  scene  to  Jerusalem,  as  is  sufiicienlly 
shown  by  the  strange  combinations  of  Wkissback 
with  respect  to  the  circumstances,  under  which 
Bathsheba  had  borne  Solomon  'under  an  apple 
tree  "  and  the  way  that  Shulamith  had  "  waked  " 
the  king  on  this  his  native  spot,  comp.  on  ver. 
5  b. — The  majority  of  recent  interpreters  are 
agreed  with  us  in  assuming  Shunem  to  be 
the  place  of  the  action,  only  the  advocates 
of  the  shepherd  hypothesis,  as  might  be  expected, 
make  not  Solomon,  but  the  shepherd  and  Shula- 
mith arrive  there  and  transact  what  follows; — 
a  view,  which  is  already  sufiiciently  reftited  by 
ver.  12  where  Solomon  is  evidently  addressed  as 
present  (see  in  he.  as  well  as  on  ver.  13),  and 
which  has  as  little  foundation  as  Vaihingek's 
assertion  that  vers.  5-7  is  performed  at  the  house 
of  Shul.amith's  mothei",  and  vers.  8  ff.  "on  the 
eastern  slope  of   little   Mt.  Hermon,"  where  her 


128 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


VIII.  5-14. 


brothers  may  have  had  their  pasture  ground. — 
When  Dllitzsch,  whose  view  of  the  position  and 
import  of  this  act  is  in  every  other  respect  cor- 
rect and  appropriate,  finds  represented  merely 
"a  visit  of  SUulamith  with  her  husband  to  her 
home,"  we  must  remark  on  the  contrary  that  the 
entreaties  and  desires  of  Shulamith  at  the  close 
of  the  preceding  act  certainly  looked  to  more 
than  a  mere  transient  stay  at  her  home,  and  that 
this  was  demanded  by  the  whole  state  of  the 
case.*  It  was  only  in  an  actual  settlement  both 
of  herself  and  of  her  husband  in  her  home  that : 
alie  could  find  the  needed  guarantee  of  an  undis- 
turbed continuance  of  her  relation  to  him  of  cor- 
dial and  conjugal  love. 

u.  FiusT  Scene.  The  ARKtv.\L,  veks.  5-7. 
Ver.  5.  Who  is  this  coining  up  out  of  the 
vtrilderness  ?  So  asked  iii.  6  the  ••  daughters  of 
.Jerusalem,"  the  chorus  of  ladies  of  the  court,  who 
look  part  in  the  action  until  towards  the  end  of 
the  preceding  act.  This  chorus  could  only  have 
come  to  Shuliimiih's  home  in  company  with  the 
royal  pair;  and  then  the  question  before  us  would 
be  insupposable  in  their  mouthf  (vs.  Ren.w, 
etc.).  EwALD,  BoTTCHEii,  HiTzio,  Delitzsch,  etc. 
therefore  correctly  assume  the  speakers  to  be 
"shepherds,"  or  country  people,  or  "inhabitants 
of  the  district,"  whilst  Umbkeit  and  Meier  arbi- 
trarily suppose  the  question  to  be  put  by  the  poet 
himself;  Weissb.  by  courtiers  on  Zion,  RosENM.by 
citizens  of  Jerusalem. — 137?  '''■•  "place  to  which 
cattle  are  driven,  pasture  ground"  (in  opposition 
to  cultivated  land,  comp.  Is.i.  xxxii.  15;  Joel  i. 
19;  Ps.  Ixv.  13)  is  here  used  in  a  different  sense 
from  iii.  (i  where  it  referred  to  the  barren  tracts 
north  and  east  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  here  a  desig- 
nation of  the  plain  of  E.'^draelon  or  Merj  ibn 
'Amir,  lying  southward  from  Shunem  to  Jczreel, 
which  is  still  for  the  most  part  untitled  and 
traversed  by  Bedouins  (Robinson,  Pal.  II.  3J4, 
'Ad'Z).  For  through  this  plain  the  travellers 
coming  from  the  capital  must  ultimately  pass.— 
Leaning  upon  her  beloved.  The  long  jour- 
ney, though  she  may  have  gut  over  part  of  it  in 
her  sedan,  has  wearied  the  delicate  lady  who 
therefore  supports  herself  upon  the  arm  of  her 
husband.  Failing  to  recognize  this  situation 
io  clear  in  itself  and  so  easily  conceivable,  the 
old  translators  have  variously  altered  the  sense 
of  the  passage.  In  this  way  we  may  explain 
the  glosses  to  be  found  in  the  text  of  the 
Sept.  and  Vclg.,  XtT^evimpdia/iei'!/  (^r\113nO) 
and  dcUciis  affluens  (^npj3n"D),  which  are 
in  both  cases  followed  again  by  the  correct 
translation  of  rnn-'?^^  np3TjT:.— Under  this 
apple    tree   I   waked    thee.     The   pointing 

*  [The  transparent  absurdity  of  this  hypothesis  of  Soloninn 
going  to  Shunem  not  merely  for  a  visit  but  to  reside,  involv- 
ing the  abandonment  of  his  capital  and  the  neglect  of  the 
alfairs  of  government,  renders  any  scheme  of  the  bool£  un- 
tenable  of  which  it  is  a  necessary  part. — Tr.] 

t  i  ZiicKLER  lias  repeatedly  argued  before  that  the  recur- 
rence of  the  same  language  implies  the  same  speaker  and  the 
sam'3  subject :  see  his  comment  on  iv.  1  ;  iv.  6;  vi.  9;  vi.  10 
and  several  times  elsewhere.  \V*h.atever  force  there  is  in  this 
foiisideration  makes  against  the  locality  and  the  speakers 
that  ho  liere  assumes.  The  wilderness  here  spoken  of  should 
not  without  some  obvious  necessity  be  regarded  as  different 
from  that  in  iii.  li.  And  that  the  queen  appears  on  foot  lean- 
ing on  her  royal  husband's  arm  is  surely  not  suggestive  of 
the  termioatioD  of  a  long  and  wearisome  journey. — Te.] 


■ynillj.',  like  that  of  the  following  verb  implies 
that  Solomon  is  the  person  addressed  and  that 
Shulamith  is  the  speaker,  but  the  consonants 
admit  also  of  the  reverse,  and  the  old  Syriao 
version  seems  actually  to  have  read  fern,  suffixes. 
Most  of  the  older  as  well  os  of  the  more  recent 
interpreters,  following  the  Masorotic  text  con- 
ceive Shulamith  to  be  the  speaker,  whilst  Hitzig, 
BoTTCHER  (w^ho  10  be  sure  assigns  a  part  of  the 
verse  to  Shulamith's  mother),  Delitzsch,  Reb- 
enst.,  Sanuers,  e(c.  make  her  lover  speak.  In 
favor  of  the  latter  assumption  it  may  be  urged 
1)  that  if  Solomon  were  the  person  addressed, 
the  absurd  sense  would  result  of  his  birth  under 
an  apple  tree — a  sense  which  is  certainly  not 
made  any  more  tolerable  by  Weissbach's  sup- 
position of  a  "  temporary  sojourn  of  Bathsheba 
in  the  royal  gardens  witli  a  view  to  her  confine- 
ment; "  li)  that  in  case  the  young  shepherd  were 
addressed  the  entire  absence  of  any  mention  of 
his  mother  in  what  precedes,  would  be  somewhat 
surprising  and  is  not  relieved  by  the  parallels 
adduced  by  Ewald  Gen.  xxxv.  48,  Donati,  vil. 
I'irg.  c.  1,  etc.  ;  3)  that  vers.  6,  7  confessedly  spo- 
ken by  Shulamith  would  require  to  be  more 
closely  connected  with  ver.  6  b  than  they  actual- 
ly are,  in  case  ver.  5  A  was  also  spoken  by  her : 
4)  that  the  expression  "  travail  "  or  "  conceive  " 

(73n)  seems  fitter  in  themoulh  of  a  man  than 
of  a  woman,   in   like    manner  as  I'mili'  when 
correctly  explained  only  appears  appropriate  in 
the  mouth  of  the  lover.     For    this   expression, 
which  we    therefore  read   ^'H'^-U'i  as  is  shown 
I  by  its  likeness  to  n"|i'i7  vei-.  4,  is  not  to  be  un- 
j  derstood  of   a   literal    awakening    out   of  sleep 
(Ewald,  Heiligst.,   Hitziq,   Vaih.  <■(<;.)  but  of 
:  waking   a   previously   slumbering  affection,    the 
j  stirring    up  of  love.      "I  waked    thee"   is  here 
!  equivalent   to  "I  excited   thy   love,   I   won   ihy 
I  heart.  "  (DoPKE,   Del.,    Hexgstenb.    etc.).     The 
circumstance,  to  which  Solomon  here  alludes,  is 
manifestly     identical    with    that     described     by 
i  Shulamith  ii.  8  tf.     We  must,  therefore,  imagine 
;  the  apple  tree  lobe   immediately   adjoining  the 
'  house    of    Shulamith's    mother,    and    probably 
j  shading  one  of  its  windows  ;   the  following  stale- 
ment  is  thus  too  more  easily  explained. — There 
thy   mother  travailed   -with     thee,    there 
travailed  she  that  bare  thee.     "  There,"  i.  e. 
not  precisely  under  the  apjde  tree  as  though  the 
birth  had  taken  place  in   the  open   air  (Dopke), 
I  but  more  indefinitely,   there,  where    that  apple 
tree  stands,  in  the  dwelling  shaded  by  it. 
I      Ver.  (j.  Place  me   as  a  signet-ring  apon 
thy  heart.     This   is  manifestly  said  by  Shula- 
Diiih  in  ardently  loving   response  to    what  her 
lover  h.ad  said  to  her,  by  which  she  had  been  re- 
minded of  the  commencement  of  her  relation  to 
him.     She     thereupon   presses    familiarly    and 
closely  to  him,   illusli-ating   the  meaning  of  her 
words  by  a  corresponding  action.   DHin  the  seal 
or    signet-ring  (Gen.  xxxviii.  18)  is   liere   as   in 
Jer.  xxii.  21,  and  Hag   ii   2.'5  (which   latter   pas- 
sage is  probably  an  imitation  of  that  before  us)  a 
symbol  of  close  inseparable  conned  ion  and  most 
fiithful  preservation.     Reference  is   had   to   the 
custom  attested  by  Gen.  he.  cit.  of  wearing  sig- 
net-rim's on  a  string  upon  the  breast  as  well  ai 


VIII.  5-14. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


12« 


to  the  like  custom  of  binding  them  to  the  arm  or 
right  hand  (see  Jer.  ioc.  cit.,  Eoclua.  xlix.  11); 
not  to  the  use  of  the  signet-ring  for  sealing,  as 
though  the  sense  were  "press  me  closely  to  thy 
breast  and  in  thy  arms "  (HiTZio),  and  quite 
as  little  to  the  impression  taken  from  the  seal 
(Hekuer,  Dopke),  or  to  an  elegantly  engraved 
bracelet  (Weissb),  or  even  to  the  high  priest's 
breastplate  (GoLZ,  Hahn,  etc.)  For  strong  as 
death  is  love,  hard  as  Sheol  is  jealousy. 
The  request  that  he  v^ould  keep  her  firmly 
and  faithfully  as  his  inalienable  possession  is 
here  based  by  Shulamith  on  a  reference  to  the 
death-vanquishing  power  and  might  of  her  love, 
or  rather  of  love  (n3nx  absolutely),  of  true 
love  in  general.  "The  adjectives  7\]V  and  JlE'p 
stand  together  also  in  Gen.  xlix.  7  to  designate 
the  passionate  anger  and  fiery  zeal  of  Simeon 
and  Levi  as  one  which  was  too  strong  and  invin- 
cible to  be  repressed.  As  our  poet  probably  (?) 
had  this  passage  in  mind,  he  doubtless  designed 
nij?  to  be  understood  here  too  of  the  all-con- 
quering power  and  DB'p  (literally  hard,  resist- 
ing all  impressions)  of  the  constancy  of  love 
which  baffles  every  attempt  to  suppress  or  to  ex- 
tirpate it.  The  comparisons  also  tend  to  the 
same  conclusion;  for  death  overcomes  all  things 
and  the  nether  world  (hell,  sheol)  cannot  be  sub- 
dued, comp.  Job  vii.  9 ;  Wiad.  ii.  1 ;  Matt.  xvi.  18 ; 
1  Cor.  XV.  55."  Thus  Weissbach,  who  is  sub- 
stantially correct,  only  he  goes  too  far  perhaps, 
in  regarding  Gen.  xlix.  7  as  the  model,  which 
the  poet  designedly  follows  in  this  passage.  On 
riKJp  zeal,  zealous  love,  comp.  Prov.  vi.  34 ; 
xxvii.  4,  where  however  the  expression  is  used 
in  a  bad  sense  of  love  that  has  cooled,  jealousy. 
In  this  passage  it  intensifies  the  idea  of  love,  just 
as  "death"  and  "  hell  "  stand  to  each  other  in 
the  relation  of  climax,  and  as  "strong"  (i.  e. 
invincible)  indicates  a  lower  degree  of  the  pas- 
sion of  love  than  "hard,  unyielding  "  [i.  e.  inex- 
orable, not  to  be  appeased,  like  the  realm  of  death, 
which  never  gives  up  anything  that  it  possesses). 
Comp.  HiTziQ  in  loc. — Its  flames  are  flames 
of  fire,  a  blaze  of  Jehovah.  On  D'St?"! 
''sparks,  rays,  flames,"  comp.  Job  t.  7  0?^^  'ji 
"sons  of  the  flame,"  i.  e.  sparks  of  fire);  Ps. 
Ixxvi.  4  ("flashes"  or  "sparks  of  the  bow," 
i.  e.  arrows);  Deut.  xxxii.  24;  Hab.  iii.  5,  etc. 
Love  or  rather  its  intenser  synonym  HXJp  (comp. 
Zeph.  i.  18),  appears  here  as  a  brightly  blazing 
fire,  which  sends  forth  a  multitude  of  sparks  or 
flames  into  the  hearts  of  men  and  thus  verifies 
its  invincible  power  and  its  inextinguishable  in- 
tensity. And  this  quality  belongs  to  it  because 
it  is  not  natural  fire,  but  a  "blaze  of  Jehovah," 
a  flame  kindled  and  sustained  by  God  Himself 
Observe  that  the  name  of  God  is  mentioned  only 
in  this  one  passage  of  the  Song,  which  must, 
however,  prove  to  be  just  the  radiant  apex  in 
the  development  of  its  doctrinal  and  ethical 
contents  (comp.  Doot.  and  Eth.  No.  2).  As  par- 
allels to  this  verse  may  be  adduced :  Motanebbi 
(edit.    V.  Hammer)  p.  3: 

Iq  the  heart  of  the  lover  flames  the  blaze  of  deaire 
Fiercer  than  the  flames  of  hell,  which  are  but  ice  in  compa- 
riaou. 

38 


Also  Anacreon  :   "  vtK<f  6e  Koi  at^Tjpdv  Kal  TrCi/j." 
Likewise  Theocritus,  Jd.  2,  133. 


.  epoic  6'  apa  K(Xi  Aiiraptou 


IIoAAaKtf  'At^ato'Toto  trcAas  (^Aoycpwrepov  al9*u 

And    many  other   expressions   of  Arabic,  Greek 
and  Roman  poets.     See  Magnus  in  loc. 

Ver.  7.  Many  'waters  cannot  quench  love, 
and  rivers  shall  not  wash  it  avray.  It  is  hers 
shown  more  particularly  in  what  respect  love  is 
a  divine  flame,  a  fire  greater  than  any  kindled 
by  a  human  hand,  comp.  1  Kin.  xviii.  38.  To 
the  figure  of  a  blazing  fire  was  readily  added 
that  of  the  inability  of  floods  of  water  to  extin- 
guish this  fire,  and  therefore  in  explanation  of 
this  new  figure  we  need  neither  refer  (as  HiTzia 
doesj  to  Isa.  xliii.  16,  a  passage  which  is  differ- 
ent in  every  respect,  nor  (with  Vaihinqer  and 
others)  explain  the  floods  of  water  of  the  entice- 
ments of  Solomon  in  particular,  by  which  hft 
would  have  turned  Shulamith  away  from  her 
lover.  The  "  rivers  "  (niinj)  do  not  form  :> 
climax  to  the  "many  waters,"  as  Holemann 
supposes  (see  e.  g.  on  the  contrary  Jon.  ii.  3)  ; 
but  in  the  latter  case  the  thing  chiefly  regarded 
is  the  great  mass  of  the  element  hostile  to  fire 
and  in  the  former  its  rapidity  and  violence. — 
If  a  man  were  to  give  all  the  wealth  of  his 
bouse  for  love,  i.  e.  with  the  view  of  exciting 
love  and  producing  it  artificially  where  it  does 
not  exist.  Here  we  might  really  see  something 
to  favor  the  shepherd  hypothesis,  if  a  statement 
of  the  impossibility  of  purchasing  true  love  wai 
not  appropriate  in  the  mouth  of  Shulamith  on  our 
assumption  likewise.  But  that  this  is  the  case,  may 
be  learned  from  the  contrast  between  Shulamith's 
genuine,  invincibly  f  trong  love  for  Solomon  and 
the  mere  semblance  of  love  which  had  previously 
subsisted  between  this  king  and  his  other  wives ; 
comp.  the  sentence  referring  to  this  very  con- 
trast, ii.  7  ;  iii.  5  ;  viii.  4,  by  which  Shulamith 
represents  to  the  ladies  of  the  court  how  im- 
possible it  was  for  them  by  means  of  their  amor- 
ous arts  really  to  gain  the  king's  heart  (see  on 
ii.  7,  p.  63).  On  the  expression  comp.  Num. 
xxii.  18;  Prov.  vi.  31,  which  latter  passage  was 
probably  drawn  from  this.  On  !3'N  "a  man, 
any  one,"  comp.  Ex.  xvi.  29.  That  it  is  her* 
an  indefinite  subject  seems  the  more  certain  from 
the  fact  that  in  the  apodosis  also  a  universal 
statement  follows  with  an  impersonal  form  of  the 

verb  (17  \%Vy).  "Vaihinoer,  Holem.,  etc.,  there- 
fore translate  without  good  reason  "If  soma 
man,"  etc. — He  would  be  utterly  con- 
temned; lit.,  "contemning  they  would  contemn 
him."  The  impersonal  plural  expresses,  as  iu 
the  similar  passage  Prov.  vi.  30,  the  universal 
sentiment  not  merely  that  of  those  in  particular 
who  were  solicited  by  false  love  and  with  money. 
The  repetition  of  the  verb  by  means  of  the  In- 
fin.  absol.  expresses  the  very  high  degree  of  con- 
tempt, which  such  an  one  as  is  here  spoken  of 
would  encounter. 

4.  Second  Scene. — a.  Shulamith's  little  sis- 
ter, vers.  8-10.  Weissbach  is  alone  in  attempting 
to  point  out  an  intimate  connection  between  thes« 
verses  and  the  preceding.  He  says:  "What 
was  uttered  ver.  7  c,  rf  as  a  universal  proposition 


MO 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


VIII.  5-14. 


(diz.  that  money  and  property  have  no  value  as 
compared  with  love)  is  now  vers.  8,  9  condition- 
ally illustrated  in  the  sister  who  is  still  young 
and  destitute  of  charms,  whilst  Shulamith  rep- 
resents herself,  ver.  10,  as  the  antithesis."  As 
this  view  can  only  be  based  on  a  very  artificial 
interpretation  of  vers.  8,  9,  we  shall  have  to 
abide  by  the  looser  connection  maintained,  e.  g., 
by  Delitzsch  and  H.\h.n.  They  suppose  that 
the  sense  expressed  by  Shulamith,  vers.  6,  7,  of 
the  high  happiness  which  she  possesses  and  en- 
joys in  her  love  for  the  king,  reminded  her  of 
her  young  sister  who  was  still  debarred  from 
such  loving  enjoyment,  and  she  accordingly  ex- 
presses her  solicitude  for  her  future  conduct  and 
fortunes.  Upon  this  assumption  the  unmistaka- 
ble dramatic  progress  receives  due  acknowledg- 
ment without  the  sundering  of  all  connection 
between  the  new  scene  which  begins  here  and 
that  which  preceded  it,  as  is  the  case,  c.  g..  in 
Umbreit's  view,  according  to  which  vers.  6,  7 
constitute  th&  closing  sentiment  of  the  drama 
(spoken  by  the  poet  himself)  and  vers.  8-14  a 
twofold  supplement  to  it.  So  in  thesimilarviewsof 
Ren.\.n,  Dopke.  M.\gnus  (comp.  above  No.  1)  and 
no  less  so  finally  on  the  assumption  of  Doder- 
LEiN,  Ew.iLD,  Heiligstedt,  Meier  and  Rocke, 
that  Shulamith  narrates  in  vers.  8,  9  what  had 
formerly  been  said  by  the  brothers  in  relation  to 
her  little  sister.  In  opposition  to  this,  latter 
opinion,  according  to  which  vers.  8,  9  are  to  be 
regarded  as  recitative,  and  Shulamith's  own 
words  do  not  begin  again  until  ver.  10,  Delitzsch 
correctly  urges  :  "It  would  be  vain  to  appeal  to 
iii.  2  :  v.  3  to  prove  the  possibility  of  this  view  : 
in  both  those  passages  the  introduction  of  the 
language  of  another  without  any  formal  indica- 
tion of  the  fact,  occurs  in  the  course  of  a  narra- 
tive, whilst  viii.  8  f.  is  only  converted  into  a  narr.a- 
tive  by  the  "frittrex  aliquandn  dixerunf  "  (Heilig- 
stedt) understood.  There  is  nothing  to  justify 
such  an  insertion.  The  only  seeming  necessity 
for  it  might  be  found  invi.  9,  according  to  which 
Shulamith  herself  appears  to  be  the  "little  sis- 
ter." Itis  not,  however,  said  in  vi.  9  that  "Shula- 
mith was  the  only  daughter  of  her  mother,  but 
only  that  her  mother  did  not  possess  or  know 
her  equal."  (comp.  in  loc).  HiTZiG,  too,  em- 
phatically opposes  understanding  the  passage  as 
a  narration,  but  assumes  that  both  verses,  ver.  9, 
as  well  as  ver.  8,  were  spoken  by  Shulamith's 
brothers,  which  is  contrary  to  the  rel.ation  of  the 
two  verses  as  question  and  answer.  Neverthe- 
less this  assumption,  shared  also  by  Vaihinoer., 
especially  if  one  brother  is  supposed  to  speak  in 
ver.  8,  and  tlie  other  in  ver.  9,  would  be  far  more 
tolerable  than  Bottchers  view,  which  makes 
Shulamith's  mother  put  the  question  in  ver.  8, 
and  one  of  her  sons  answer  it  in  ver.  9;  or  than 
the  opinion  of  He.ngstenbeko  that  both  vers.  8 
and  9  were  spoken  by  Solomon  ;  or  than  the  view 
of  St,\rke.  and  of  many  of  the  older  interpreters, 
that  ver.  8  belongs  to  Shulamith,  and  ver.  9  to 
Solomon. 

Ver.  8.  W^e  have  a  sLster,  little,  and 
she  has  (as  yet)  no  breasts.  On  ]£0p  "lit- 
tle" in  the  sense  of  young,  belonging  to  the 
period  of  childhood,  comp.  (Jen.  ix.  Ii4 ;  xxvii. 
15  ;  1  Kings  iii.  7  :  and  in  relation  to  the  breasts 
as  the  criterion  of  virgin  maturity,  Ezek.  xvi.  7. — 


'What  shall  we  do  ....  in  the  day  that 
she  shall  be  spoken  for?  The  day  that  a 
maiden  is  sued  for,  is  when  she  becomes  of  u 
marriageable  age.  The  suit  was  addressed  in 
the  first  instance  to  the  father  of  the  damsel,  or 
to  her  brothers,  not  directly  to  herself  (Gen.  xxxiv. 
11,  lo;   .xxiv.  50.  etc.). 

Ver.  9.  If  she  be  a  Tvall,  we  will  build  up- 
on her  a  silver  castle ;  but  if  she  be  a 
door,  w^e  w^ill  stop  her  up  -with  a  cedar 
board.  Delitzsch  correctly  paraphrases  these 
words :  "  If  she  opposes  a  firm  and  successful 
resistance  to  all  immoral  suggestions,  we  will 
build  on  her,  as  on  a  solid  wall,  a  castle  of  sil- 
ver, i.  f.,  we  will  bestow  upon  her  the  freedom 
and  honor  due  to  her  virgin  purity  and  stead- 
fastness, so  that  she  m.ay  shine  forth  in  the  land 
like  a  stately  castle  on  a  lofty  wall  which  is  seen 
far  and  wide.  But  if  she  is  a  door,  ;'.  >-.,  open 
and  accessible  to  the  arts  of  seduction,  we  will 
block  her  up  with  cedar  boards,  (.  e.,  watch  her 
so  that  she  cannot  be  approached  by  any  sedu- 
cer, nor  any  seducer  approached  by  her." — A» 
soon  as  we  suppose  the  brothers  to  give  this  an- 
swer respecting  their  younger  sister,  it  loses  Iho 
strange  or  even  ofl'ensive  appearance  which  its 
figures  would  certainly  have  in  the  mouth  of 
Siiulamith.  Then,  too,  we  shall  not  be  compelled 
to  seek  for  acloser  connection  between  this  semi- 
ment  and  the  main  action  of  the  poem  (as  the  r.il- 
vocates  of  the  shepherd  hypothesis  do),  but  can 
abide  by  the  simple  assumption  that  what  is  hers 
said,  as  in  general,  all  from  ver.  8  onward,  is 
simply  designed  to  form  a  cheerful  and  sportive 
lermination  of  the  whole  matter.  Lenst  of  ali 
need  we  take  refuge  in  the  over-refined  view  of 
Weissbach  that  ver.  9  is  a  continuation  of  the 
language  of  Shulamith,  who  supposes  two  ques- 
tions to  be  put  to  her  by  certain  men  respecting 
her  sister  when  marriageable,  and  immediately 
replies  to  them  both — so  that  the  sentences  run 
thus: 

....   What  sh.all  we  do   then  in  respect  to  our 
sister  when  they  ask  about  her: 
[a)   "  Is  she  a  wall '?" 
Ans.   We  will  build  a  little  silver  wall  around 
her  (?); 

(h)  "  Is  she  a  door?" 
Ans.  We  will  construct  around  her  (?)  a  ce- 
dar frame  (?) — . 
As  to  tlie  particulars  observe  further:  The 
wall  nrDin  is  not  designed  to  set  forth  the  ide." 
of  lofty  stature  (iirDIp  vii.  8).  or  the  impossibility 
of  being  scaled,  but  simply  that  of  the  firm  re- 
sistance which  checks  the  furtlier  advance  of  Ibes 
(HiTziG correctly,  vs.  Weissbacu). — The  "castle 
of  silver  "  ^D3  ri^'O  to  be  built  on  the  wall  is, 
of  course,  only  to  be  conceived  of  as  a  small  but 
strong  castle,  tower  or  bulwark  (comp.  nTD  in 
Num.  xxxi.  10;  Ezek.  xxv.  4,  etc.).  or  if  any  pre- 
fer as  a  "pinnacle"  or  "  battlement  crowning  the 
wall"  (HiTziG,  Heiligstedt,  Magn.,  Meier, 
HoLEM. — comp.  the  Sept.  :  F-aXii<;). — not  as  a 
"palace"  (Goltz)  [so  Eng.  Ver.]  or  "habita- 
tion'' (IIengstenberg).  or  "court-yard"  (Bott- 
CHER),  or  "low fence"  (Weissbach).  The  n;ean- 
ing  of  the  figure  is  admirably  illustrated  by  Hit- 
ziG  by  a  reference  to  our  provprbial  form  of 
speech,   "He(or  she)  deserves  tobeset  in  golo." 


yiii.  5ii"i 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


131 


He  also  not  inappropriately  suggests  an  allusion 
to  the  way  that  oriental  ladies  to  this  day  decorate 
their  head-dress  witli  strings  of  silver  coins  or 
with  horn-like  ornaments  of  embossed  silver  and 
the  like  (comp.  on  iv.  4  above).  On  the  con- 
trary the  sense  which  Vaihinger  would  attribute 
to  the  expression  is  undemonsti-yblc  and  in  bad 
taste:  "we  will  seek  to  obtain  a  large  dowry  by 
her."'  And  Weissbach's  explanation  is  perfectly 
absurd  and  irifliug:  "we  will  carry  up  a  silver 
wall  around  her,  who  needs  no  such  protection." 
— The  door  presents  a  fitting  contrast  to  the  wall, 
becnuse  it  is  easily  opened  and  admits  everything 
through  it;  an  expressive  emblem  of  unchastity 
which  is  open  to  every  amorous  seduction. 
"  Stopping  up  "'  or  "blocking"  (Hitzic;  "bar- 
ricading") this  door  with  a  "cedar  board"  natu- 
rally means  a  determined  warding  oif  of  those 
seductive  influences,  and  rendering  all  dissolute- 
ness impossible  by  the  most  sedulous  care.  By 
this  is  not  to  be  understood  a  "  fore-door  or  ves- 
tibule door  in  from-  of  the  proper  door"  (Hi'g), 
nor  a  "cedar  post"  (Weissb.),  nor  a  tablet  to 
be  put  on  the  door  as  an  ornament  (IIolem.),  but 
quite  certainly  a  plank  or  board  to  be  put  against 
the  door  on  the  inside  to  prevent  it  from  turning 
and  opening.  This  board  was  to  be  of  cedar, 
because  this  wood  is  a  particularly  strong  build- 
ing material  and  not  liable  to  rot.* 

Ver.  10.  I  was  a  wall  and  my  breasts  like 
tOTVers.  This  is  evidently  said  by  .Shulamith, 
whose  thoughts  were  turned  back  to  her  own 
maiden  state  by  her  brothers'  faithful  care  shown 
for  the  honor  and  purity  of  her  l;ttle  sister. 
Looking  back  up>n  this  tiioe,  which  now  lies  in 
the  past,  she  can  joyfully  affirm  that  all  seduction 
recoiled  from  her  as  from  a  solid  wall,  and  that 
no  one  had  dared  to  venture  an  assault  upon  her 

*  fTHRUPP  quotes  in  opposition  to  the  view  above  given 
of  this  verse  tiie  language  of  Renan  :  '*  TJiis  interpretation 
is  pressed  by  serious  diSicuities.  I  do  not  insist  on  its  vapid 
and  feeble  character.  We  may  admit  contrary  to  all  proij>i.- 
bility,  that  the  silver  battlements  of  which  the  brothers 
speak  might  denote  a  sort  of  ornament  as  a  recompense  of 
the  young  girl's  virtue,  it  will  still  remain  a  tmit  whose 
signification  is  an  enigma.  If  the  brothers  wish  to  punish 
their  sister  in  case  she  should  commit  any  fault,  why  do 
they  menace  her  with  panels  of  cedar?  It  is  evident  that 
this  implies  an  idea  of  riches  and  luxury.  Battlements  of 
silver,  panels  of  cedar  answer  to  one  another.  Neither  of 
tliese  alternatives  includes  an  idea  of  punishment  or  recom- 
pense." Tbedpp  himself  supposes  it  to  be  the  language  of 
the  bridegroom,  and  its  meaning  to  be :  "  We  will  build  her 
up,  and  that  in  full  glory.  The  walls  and  the  doors  come 
into  view  as  two  of  the  most  obvious  features  of  every  edi- 
fice. As  for  her  wall  of  enclosure,  we  will  fence  her  around 
with  silver;  as  for  her  doors,  of  cedar  atone  and  of  no  in- 
ferior wood,  shall  they  be  constructed."  BuilROWi;s:  "iler 
nature  should  be  adorned  with  orntm'jnts,  giving  more  beauty 
and  strength  than  turrets  of  silver,  or  a  richly  carved  door 
of  the  most  elegant  cedar."  JVI  jonr  Stuart  :  "  They  liken  the 
little  sister  to  two  of  the  principal  parts  of  a  building  or  tem- 
ple— first,  the  wall  without  which  there  is  no  stability,  no 
bouse;  and  second,  the  door  without  which  there  is  no  en- 
trance to  the  house,  and  no  use  of  it.  The  wall  is  the  image 
of  stability  on  which,  with  its  solid  strength,  is  to  be  built  a 
silver  palace  for  h.^bilation  and  for  beauty.  The  door  is  the 
image  of  accessibleness ;  but  a  door-way  without  the  woiidcn 
frame  work,  requires  cedar  boards  to  distinguish  it  from  a 
mere  open  thoroughfare."  Good  understands  by  the  "silver 
turrets ;"  "  The  prominent  charm  of  an  ample  dowry  shall 
immediately  be  her  own ;"  and  by  the  "  door  encased  in  ce- 
dar :"  "She  shall  be  the  graceful  entnince  to  my  favor  and 
friendship."  IIvr«er,  who  supposes  the  little  sister  to  be 
Pharaoh's  d.aughter  espoused  to  Solomon,  Imagines  that  the 
"wall"  and  the  door"  are  emblems  of  the  political  conse- 
qusnces  of  the  alliance  as  on  the  one  hand  "  a  guard  and 
defence,  giving  a  new  security  to  .Tndfea,"  and  on  the  other 
cpening  "  a  free  communication  between  Egypt  and  the 
Jewish  country,"] 


pure  and  awe-inspiring  charms  (her  breasts  as 
inaccessible  and  hard  to  be  scaled  as  towers  upon 
walls,  comp.  vii.  9  b). — Then  was  I  in  bis  eyes 
as  one  that  finds  peace,  i.  e.,  this  careful 
preservation  of  my  chaslity,  this  keeping  my 
charms    pure  and  sacred   procured  me  his,   the 

king's,  favor  and  inmost  love.  Dl/E?  "  welfare, 
peace,"  is  here  as  in  'nnc?  C'''N  Pa.  xli.  10,  a 
synonym  of  |n  "favor"  or  lOn  "kindness" 
(comp.  jn  Si'O  Gen.  vi.  8;  xix.  19;  Jer.  xxxi. 
2,  as  well  as  jni  npri  Esth.  ii.  17)  and  is  not 
without  a  delicate  allusion  to  the  name  of  Solomon. 
There  is  also  a  certain  refinement  in  the  ex- 
pression   that   Sliularaith   does   not   exactly   say 

dhd  ryi'l  'nSiO    is  "then  I  found  peace  in 

T  T     ■     :  •  T   T  T  *  , 

his  eyes,"  but  with  a  modest  circumlocution : 
"then  was  I  as  one  (3  as  in  nxi)  viii.  1)  that 
finds  peace  in  his  eyes,"  then  I  appeared  to  him 
worthy  of  his  cordial  affection  (ctSmp.  Diclitzsch 
and  HoLE.MANN  !>(  loc).  The  expression  contains 
nn  allusion,  therefore,  to  the  preceding  com- 
parison of  herself  to  a  wall  surmounted  by 
towers,  or  to  a  fortification.     If  the  poet  intended 

by  a)hv  nsxn3  l'r>'0  'n"n  is  to  express  the 
meaning:  "then  he  finally  left  me  in  peace,  in- 
stead of  ass.ailing  me  further,"  he  did  so  in  a 
most  strange  and  uniutelHgible  manner  (vs. 
Hitzig),  and  to  regard  HOin  "wall"  as  the 
subject  of  nXS'lO  "found"  (Ewald,  Wbisseach) 
will  not  answer  on  account  of  this  word  being 
too  remote;  find  such  a  form  of  speech  as  "a 
wall  or  fortress  finds  peace — it  surrenders  or  it 
is  spared,"  receives  no  confirmation  from  the 
Old  Testament  elsewhere,  or  from  oriental  liter- 
ature generally. 

5.  CoNTiNnATioN. — h.  Shclamith's  interces- 
sion    FOR     HER     BROTHERS,  vers.     11.   12. ThcSB 

dithcult  verses  can  only  be  explained  in  accord- 
ance with  the  context,  and  with  the  whole  course 
and    tenor    of    the    piece,    by    assuming    with 
Delitzscu   that  the   "vineyard   of   Solomon    in 
Baal-hamon."   mentioned   in  ver.    11,    is    simply 
adduced  by  way  of  example;    that  the  speaker  a 
"own   vineyard,"  as  in  i.  6  (comp.  iv.  12  ff.).  is 
a    figurative    designation    of    herself    and    her 
charms,    which    she    devotes   to   the   king;  and 
finally  that  the  "keepers  of  its  fruit"  (ver.  12  b) 
is  a  designation  of  her  brothers,  the  faithful  auu 
zealous  guardians  of  her  innocence;   and  conse- 
quently the  whole  must  betaken  to  bean  interees 
sion  of  Shulamiih  on  behalf  of  her  brothers.    This 
intercession  fitly  connects  itself  with  their  tender 
care  for  her   Utile  sister,  just  now  manifested; 
and  it  likewise  refers  back  in  a  suitable   manner 
[  to   the   mention   before    made  of   her   brothers, 
i.  G,  and  thus  helps  to  bring  about  a  termination 
,  of  the  whole,  in  wliich  everything  shall  bo  satis- 
factorily adjusted   and    harmonized.      We  there- 
fore reject  the  following  divergent  explanations 
of  tV.isbrief  section:   1)  Shulamith  declares  lliat 
!  she   has   herself  guarded   her   virgin   innocence 
I  better  than  Solomon  his  vineyard  in  Baal-hamon, 
j  whose  keepers  had  secretly  retained,  besides  the 
1  fruit,  two  hundred  shekels  for  themselves;  she 
!  therefore  needs  no  other  keepers,  not  even  the 
1  guardianship  of  her  bi'oihers  (Herder,  Umbueit, 


132 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


VIII.  5-14. 


DoPKE,  HiTziQ,  Rockk).  2)  Shulamith  protests 
that  she  disdains  all  the  wealth  and  the  treasures 
of  Solomon,  which,  like  his  yineyard  in  Baal- 
hamon,  he  is  obliged  to  entrust  to  the  guardian- 
ship of  others ;  her  vineyard,  i.  e.,  her  innocence 
and  virtue  is  under  her  own  control,  and  in  this 
possession   of   hers    she    has    enough    (Dathe, 

ROSKNMUELLER,    EWALD,  HeILIGSTEDT,  elc).       3) 

Shulamith  triumphantly  relates  that  Solomon 
offered  her  the  rich  vineyard  at  Baal-hamon, 
whither  she  had  been  carried  to  his  pleasure- 
palace,  with  all  its  produce,  and  the  entire  park 
as  her  own  property,  if  she  would  be  his ;  he 
was  even  willing  to  release  her  from  the  payment 
of  the  two  hundred  shekels  due  to  each  of  its 
keepers ;  but  she  had  renounced  the  whole  for 
the  sake  of  her  lover,  who  now,  as  her  own 
chosen  vineyard(!)  stood  before  her  (Vaihinger). 

4)  Shulamith  means  to  say,  Solomon  must  have 
his  distant  vineyard  in  Baal-hamon  kept  for  him, 
and  must  therefore  pay  away  considerable  of  its 
proceeds  ;  but  she,  on  the  contrary,  kept  her  own 
vineyard,  that  is  to  say  Solomon  ('.),  herself,  and  j 
hence  possessed  his  love  alone  without  being  : 
obliged   to   share    it   with    others    (Holemann),  i 

5)  Shulamith  intends  by  Solomon's  vineyard  in 
Baal-hamon  herself,  and  by  her  own  vineyard 
the  shepherd,  her  lover;  she  means  to  say, 
Solomon  did  indeed  get  Shulamith  into  his  power 
.it  Shulem  r=Baal-hamon),  and  offered  her  one 
thousand  shekels  by  each  of  the  ladies  of  the 
court  as  her  keepers;  but  he  may  keep  this 
money,  for  her  proper  keeper,  the  shepherd, 
now  stands  before  her  again  (Meier).  6)  Shula- 
mith means  to  say  that  Solomon,  who  has  let  out 
his  vineyard  to  keepers,  receives  as  the  owner 
one  thousand  silverlings  in  cash  from  each 
keeper,  whilst  the  keepers  retain  for  their  pay 
live  times  as  much  in  fruit  =  five  thousand 
shekels.  But  Shulamith,  who  keeps  her  own 
vineyard,  i.  «.,  herself  with  all  her  personal 
charms,  and  consequently  might,  as  both  owner 
and  keeper,  retain  the  entire  produce  for  herself, 
gives  the  use  of  the  fruit,  consequently  the  five 
parts,  in  this  case  =  1000  (!)  to  Solomon,  and 
only  retains  for  herself  as  keeper  the  200,  i.  e., 
the  possession ;  the  usufruct  shall  be  his,  she 
will  only  be  the  keeper  of  her  vineyard  (Weiss- 
bach).  7)  Solomon's  vineyard  in  Baal-hamon 
denotes  the  kingdom  of  God  founded  in  the  midst 
of  the  world,  in  the  midst  of  the  savage  masses 
of  heathen  population.  The  keepers  of  this  vine- 
yard are  the  several  Christian  nations,  each  of 
which  has  to  pay  oue  thousand  shekels  to  the 
heavenly  Solomon  as  the  product  of  his  labor. 
Kach  must  therefore  produce  as  much  fruit  as 
the  people  of  Israel,  the  tenants  of  the  vineyard 
mentioned,  ver.  12,  which  forms  one  part  of  the 
great  vineyard  of  the  Church.  Each  people 
then  receives  in  return  a  reward  of  grace  of  two 
hundred  shekels,  that  is  to  say,  a  fifth  part  of 
tiie  produce  of  his  portion ;  and  the  people  of 
Israel  receives  no  more,  cooip.  Matt.  xx.  1-16 
fUnNGSTENBERO).  8)  Solomou's  vineyard  at 
Baal-hamon  denotes  the  Church  of  the  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  the  world.  Its  keepers  are  the 
prophets,  apostles,  pastors  and  teachers  of 
Christendom,  to  whom  two-tenths  (twice  as 
much,  therefore,  as  under  the  Old  Testament) 
shall  be   given   as   a  reward  of  grace   for  their 


faithful  raising  of  fruit,  or  for  their  leading 
many  thousand  souls  to  the  heavenly  Solomon 
(Calov,  Michael.,  Marck.,  Bebleb.  Bib.,  and 
in  general  most  of  the  old  allegorists).  9)  The 
vineyard  at  Baal-hamon  denotes  the  Gentile 
world  generally,  Shulamith's  vineyard,  ver.  12, 
Japhetic  gentilism  as  one  half  of  this  Gentile 
world,  the  two  hundred  silverlings  the  spiritual 
peace  granted  by  the  king  to  Japhetic  humanity 
in  regard  for  their  loving  submission  to  him, 
etc.*  (Hahn). 

Ver.  11.  Solomon  has  a  vineyard  in  Baal- 
hamon.  Baal-hamon  is,  without  doubt,  the  place 
not  far  from  Dothaim  in  the  south  of  the  tribe  of 
Issachar,  which  is  called  Bc/a/jui'  or  Sa}.a/iini,  Ju- 
dith viii.  3,  a  locality  therefore  not  very  remote 
from  Shunem.  It  derived  its  name  from  the  Syro- 
Egyptian  god,  Ammon  jlOD  (=[10N  Jer.  xlvi.  25), 
which  may  have  been  worshipped  there,  just  as 
Baal-gad  (Josh.  si.  17;  xii.  7,  etc.)  was  named 
from  Gad,  the  well-known  Babylonish  god  of  for- 
tune. Baal-hamon  scarcely  signifies  "  the  popu- 
lous" (VuLG.,  Weissb.,  etc.),  and  it  is  still  more 
improbable  that  it  is  to  be  identified,  as  many 
of  the  older  writers  assumed,  with  Baalbec  in 
Coele-Syria  (where  vineyards  could  hardly  ever 
have  flourished),  or  with  Hamnion,  ]'Sn,  Josh, 
xix.  28,  or  with  Baalgad,  Josh.  xi.  17,  etc.  But 
if  that  locality  near  Shunem  is  intended,  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  Shulamith  had  been  carried 
off  to  just  that  spot  by  Solomon,  and  detained 
there  for  some  time  as  a  prisoner  in  a  pleasure- 
p.alace  of  the  king,  as  Vaih.  strangely  supposes. 
But  Shulamith  only  names  this  vineyard  as  an 
instance  very  near  her  home  of  a  royal  property 
let  out  on  high  rent,  in  order  afterwards  to  il- 
lustrate by  it  her  relation  to  the  king  as  well  as 
to  her  brothers. — He  committed  the  vine- 
yard to  the  keepers — ;.  e.,  to  several  at  once, 
amongst  whom  the  piece  of  ground  was  parcelled 
out  in   greater  or  smaller  portions.     That  these 

*  [Good  find3  in  these  verges  a  request  made  of  Solomon  by 
his  roj-al  bride  that  he  would  "  consign  the  estate  which, 
prior  to  her  marriage,  she  had  possessed  in  Baal-hamon,  and 
wliich  now  appertained  to  himself  a^  a  part  of  the  dowry 
she  had  brought  him,  to  her  younger  and  unendowed  sister." 
liURROWES  ;  '■  While  Solomon's  tenants  were  obliged  to  pay 
the  stipulated  rent,  the  spouse  speaks  of  a  vineyard  which 
was  her  own,  but  which  she  would  nevertheless  so  keep  un- 
der her  own  control  and  management,  as  to  be  able  while 
paying  the  keepers  equitable  wages,  to  offer  yearly  to  the 
king  a  thousand  pieces  of  silver  as  a  testimonial  of  her  love." 
Moody  Std.irt  :  "  Solomon  is  the  Messiah,  and  Baal-lianiun 
is  no  doubt  either  Jerusalem  or  the  land  of  Israel.  Tlie  vine- 
yard was  let  to  keepers,  who  wei-e  to  render  its  fruits  to  the 
ititig — they  were  to  render  them,  but  the  silence  as  to  the  ful- 
filment implies  that  the  covenant  was  not  kept.  Tlie  New 
Testament  church  now  declares,  that  by  the  Lord's  grant  the 
vineyard  is  liers,  and  undertakes,  through  grace,  that  she 
will  never  lose  sight  of  it.  She  further  engages  to  assign  to 
those  who  labor  in  it  a  suitable  and  moderate  maintenance, 
and  allots  '  two  hundred  pieces  of  silver  to  those  that  keep 
the  fnnt  of  it.'  At  the  same  time  she  promises  that  the 
full  revenue  shall  only  be  the  Lord's,  and  that  she  will 
never  attempt,  like  her  predecessor,  to  claim  the  vine.vard 
jis  her  own."  The  same  author  also  calls  attention  to  the 
"  remarkable  aCTeement  between  this  passage  and  the  ref- 
erence to  the  Lord's  vineyard,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Isaiah," 
and  adds:  "The  Song  of  Solomon  was  evidently  much  in 
the  mind  of  Isaiah,  and  he  refers  to  it  more  or  leas  directly 
in  every  page  of  his  prophecies."  This  last  statement  is 
verified  through  several  pages  filled  with  passages  from 
Isaiah,  which  bear  more  or  less  alflnity  in  language  or 
ideas  to  expressions  in  the  Song  of  Solomon.  The  inter- 
esting relation  thus  suggested  as  existing  between  these  two 
books,  has  its  importance  in  determining  the  estimate  put 
upon  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  the  inteiiiroUition  given  te 
it  ill  Old  Testament  times  and  by  inspired  men.— Te.] 


VIII.  5-14. 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


13S 


keepers  rented  (he  property  ia  shown  by  what 
follows. — Each  wras  to  bring  for  its  fruit  a 
thoosand  of  silver — i.  «.,  a  thousand  shekels 
of  silver.  From  the  high  rent  may  be  inferred 
the  productiveness  of  the  property  ;  for  that  its 
aaaual  yield  corresponded  to  the  agreement  is 
certainly  presupposed,  as  well  as  that  a  part  of 
the  produce  of  his  piece  annually  remained  for 
each  tenant — that  is,  on  an  average,  about  two 
hundred  shekels  (see  ver.  12). 

Ver.  12.  My  vineyard,  my  ovra,  is  before 
me — i.  e.,  I  take  charge  myself  of  my  own  vine- 
yard, viz.,  of  myself  and  my  womanly  charms,  of 
myself  as  an  object  of  men's  admiration  and 
courtship.  Since  I  came  to  maturity,  I  have 
been  my  own  keeper,  and  have  with  entire  free- 
dom transferred  to  my  royal  husband  this  right 
of  mine  to  dispose  of  myself.  I  have  no  longer 
any  other  keepers  but  him,  who  is  one  with  me 
(comp.  on  i.  6,  p.  56). — ^The  thousand  is 
thine,  O  Solomon,  and  two  hundred  for 
the  keepers  of  its  fruit — i.  «.,  the  .-ntire  pro- 
ceeds are  due  to  thee  ;  I  remain  wholly  thine  own 
with  all  that  I  am  and  have.  But  they  who  kept 
my  fruit,  i.  p.,  my  innocence  and  virtue,  before  I 
was  thine,  should  not  go  empty  away.  These 
trusty  brotherly  guardians  of  my  maidenhood, 
who  once  watched  over  me  as  they  now  faithfully 
and  sedulously  watch  over  our  little  sister  (ver. 
9),  must  be  commended  to  thy  love  and  favor,  as 
in  my  heart  they  hold  the  next  place  after  thee. 
— This  explanation,  it  is  true,  does  not  completely 
remove  all  difficulties;  but  it  involves  fewer 
doubtful  and  forced  assumptions  than  the  other 
attempted  explanations  adduced  above. 

6.  CONCLUSIO.V.— C.  The  CHEERFUL  PLEASANTRY 
AND  SINOINO  OF  THE  ROTAL  COUPLE,  vers.    1.3,   14. 

These  two  concluding  verses  contain,  according 
to  Herder,  the  fragment  of  a  conversation ;  ac- 
cording to  Umbreit  the  serenade  of  a  young  man 
from  the  city  with  the  answer  of  his  lady-love  in 
the  country ;  according  to  Dopke  a  "  small  duet " 
belonging  to  the  initial  period  of  Shulamith's  love, 
and  here  appended  by  the  poet;  according  to 
Maqnos,  a  glossed  and  mutilated  fragment  of  a 
love-song;  while  most  of  the  advocates  of  the 
shepherd  hypothesis  see  in  it  a  colloquy  between 
the  lover  and  Shulamith,  consisting  of  an  invita- 
tion to  sing  on  the  part  of  the  former,  and  a 
song  of  a  roguish  and  playful  character,  which 
Shulamith  thereupon  sings  (Ewald.  Hitzig,  Vai- 
HiNQER,  etc.).  This  last  view  evidently  has  the 
most  in  its  favor  on  account  of  the  recurrence  of 
^iP'Opyj  "let  me  hear,"  from  ii.  14,  and  the  un- 
mistakable resemblance  of  the  song  in  ver.  14 
to  ii  17  (and  partly  also  to  ii.  15).  Only  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  the  person,  who  invites 
her  to  sing  and  whom  Shulamith  addresses  in  her 
song  as  "111  "my  beloved,"  to  be  a  young  shep- 
herd. The  epithet  which  he  bestows  upon  her, 
"thou  that  dwellest  in  the  gardens,"  makes  it 
seem  far  more  likely  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  rank, 
stud  even  resident  in  a  palace,  a  man  of  royal 
race  exalted  greatly  above  her  station  in  life. 
But  little  reason  as  there  is  to  regard  another 
than  Solomon  as  the  "  beloved  "  who  speaks  in 
ver.  13  and  is  then  addressed  in  the  sprightly 
little  song,  there  is  quite  as  little  for  assigning 
this  occurrence  with  HiTZia  to  a  period  conside- 


rably later  than  the  one  recorded  just  before,  or 
for  assuming  with  Bottcher  that  the  bridegroom, 
in  quitting  the  merry  engagement  feast  in  the 
house  of  Shulamith's  mother,  wanted  to  hear  one 
more  song  from  his  bride  before  he  left  her  for 
the  last  brief  interval  prior  to  the  celebration  of 
their  marriage.  Delitzsch  and  Weissbach  un- 
derstand the  passage  correctly,  only  the  latter 
preposterously  imagines  the  locality  of  the  actioa 
here  as  in  the  final  section  generally  to  be  the 
royal  palace  in  Jerusalem  (comp.  p.  127). — 
Thou  that  d'wellest  in  the  gardens. — Lite- 
rally, "thou  sitting  in  the  gardens,"  i.  e.,  thou 
resident  in  gardens,  who  art  opposed  to  living  in 
populous  cities  and  splendid  palaces  (comp.  i.  16 
f.;  iv.  6;  v.  7  ;  vii.  12  ff. ).  Solomon  here  evi- 
dently means  to  allude  with  pleasant  raillery  to 
the  fact  that  his  beloved,  who  had  so  often  before 
exhibited  her  longing  for  the  gardens  and  mea- 
dows of  her  home,  was  now  exactly  in  her  ele- 
ment, and  ought  therefore  to  be  in  the  best  of 
moods. — Companions  are  listening  for  thy 
voice;  let  me  bear  it. — The  D"]3n  "compa- 
nions" are,  according  to  Magnus,  "neighbors," 
or  "the  family;"  according  to  Hufnagel,  "fe- 
male friends;"  according  to  Moldenh.,  Ewald, 
Ren.,  etc.,  "bridemen"  {des  paranymphes.  Re- 
nan);  according  to  Vaihinger,  "  shepherds,  fel- 
low-pasturers;"  according  to  Weissbach,  Solo- 
mon himself,  who  here  jestingly  represents  him- 
self as  a  shepherd,  or  rather  in  the  plural  as 
"shepherds!"  and  finally,  according  to  Herder, 
Huo,  Delitzsch,  "playmates"  or  "youthful  as- 
sociates" of  Shulamith.  This  last  view  has  most 
in  its  favor ;  only  it  is  a  matter  of  course  that  the 
companions  of  Shulamith's  youth  were  likewise 
those  of  her  brothers  ;  they  are  consequently  in  all 
likelihood  shepherds  and  country  people  from  Shu- 
nem  and  its  vicinity.  They  were  probably,  there- 
fore, the  same  as  the  speakers  in  ver.  5  a  of  this 
chapter ;  on  the  contrary  they  are  not  the  compan- 
ions of  Solomon  (comp.  V.  1),  of  whom  Shulamith 
spoke  i.  7  (vs.  Ewald). 

Ver.  14.  Flee,  my  beloved.  The  words 
sound  like  sending  off,  or  if  any  prefer  "scaring 
away"  or  at  least  "urging  out  into  the  open 
ground  "  (Delitzsch).  They  do  not,  however, 
by  any  means  express  seriously  intended  coy- 
ness, as  is  shown  by  the  very  form  of  the  address 
'in  "my  beloved."  They  rather  invite  to 
hasten  and  range  with  the  singer  over  the  moun- 
tains and  plains  as  is  shown  by  what  follows, 
rr^^  is  not,  however,  exactly  equivalent  to 
"hasten,  up!"  as  is  maintained  by  Vaihinger 
and  Weissbach,  who  refer  to  Num.  xxiv.  11, 
Isa.  XXX.  Iti,  etc.  For  even  in  these  passages,  as 
well  as  in  Gen.  xxvii.  43  ;  Am.  vii.  12,  the  pri- 
mary signification  of  this  verb  "  to  flee "  is 
clearly  apparent.  Ewald  arbitrarily  :  the  mean- 
ing is  that  "he  should  cut  across,  leave  his  com- 
panions and  not  stay  opposite  to  her  but  hasten 
to  her  side,"  etc. — And  be  like  a  gazelle,  etc. 
comp.  on  ii.  17.  In  place  of  the  "mountains  of 
separation"  or  "cleft  mountains"  there  men- 
tioned we  here  have  balsam  mountains  or  "  heights 
of  scented  herbs  "  (Weissbach),  which  to  be  sure 
are  meant  in  a  different  sense  from  iv.  6.  Shula- 
mith here  calls  by  this  name  the  mountains  uni 
hills  of  her  home  (comp.  ii.  8)  because  tliey  wera 


134 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


Via.  5-14. 


just  then  in  the  season  of  spring  or  early  summer 
covered  with  fragrant  flowers  of  all  sorts  and  ac- 
cordingly filled  with  balmy  odors  (comp.  ii.  12 
f.,  vi.  11). — On  the  import  of  this  verse  as  the 
conclusion  of  the  entire  poem,  comp.  Delitzsch, 
p.  1.53:  "Amid  the  cheerful  notes  of  this  song 
we  lose  sight  of  the  pair  rambling  over  the  i 
flowery  heights,  and  the  graceful  spell  of  the  | 
Song  of  Songs,  which  bounds  gazelle-like  from  one 
icene  of  beauty  to  another,  vanishes  with  them." 

DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL. 

1.  The  allegorical  exegesis  is  in  this  section 
less  able  than  ever  to  bring  all  into  a  form  pos- 
sessing unity  and  regular  structure,  and  to  reach 
really  certain  results,  as  the  .attempts  .above  ex- 
hibited (p.  132)  to  give  an  allegorical  explanation 
of  vers.  11,  12  have  evinced.  Not  only  in  this 
passage  but  in  other  parts  of  this  section  this 
mode  of  interpretation  shows  a  very  great  multi- 
plicity and  divergence  of  opinions  among  its 
various  advocates.  The  "little  sister,"  ver.  8  f . 
is  by  some  made  to  denote  the  first-fruits  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles  received  into  the  church  immedi- 
ately after  the  ascension  of  Christ  (CAssiODoRt;s, 
Bkza,  GiiEGORY,  Rdpert  v.  Deutz,  etc.);  by 
others  the  entire  body  of  the  .Jews  and  Gentiles 
yet  to  be  converted  (Heunisch,  Eeinhard, 
Rambach,  liljewise  Haiin,  who  refers  it  par- 
ticularly to  "llaiuitic  Gentilism");  by  olliers 
the  weak  in  faith  and  young  beginners  in  Chris- 
tianity belonging  to  every  period  of  the  churoh  in 
their  totality  (Marck.,  Berleb.  Bib.,  Starke); 
and  finally  by  olliers  the  daughter  of  Zion  at  tlie 
lime  of  tlie  fifst  beginnings  of  her  conversion  to 
the  heavenly  Solomon  (Hengst.  and  others). 
"  The  wall  and  the  door,"  ver.  9,  are  indeed 
mostly  understood  of  the  steadfast,  .and  faithful 
keeping  of  the  word  of  God  and  of  its  zealous  pro- 
clamation to  the  Gentiles  (according  to  1  Cor.  xvi. 
B,  etc, ) ;  but  some  also  explain  them  of  the  valiant 
in  faith  and  the  weak  in  faith,  or  of  the  learned 
and  simple,  or  of  faithful  Christians  and  such  as 
are  recreant  and  easily  accessible  to  the  arts  of 
seduction.  And  then  according  to  these  various 
interpretations  the  "silver  bulwarks"  are  now 
the  miracles  of  the  first  witnesses  of  Jesus,  now 
the  distinguished  teachers  of  the  church,  now 
pious  Christian  rulers,  now  the  testimonies  of 
Holy  Scripture  by  which  faith  is  strengthened, 
tic.  And  again  by  the  "  cedar  board  "  are  some- 
times understood  the  ten  commandments  or  the 
law,  sometimes  Christian  teachers,  sometimes  the 
examples  of  the  saints,  sometimes  the  salutary 
discipline  of  the  cross  and  sufferings  for  Christ's 
sake,  etc.  (comp.  Starice  in  Inc.).  By  the  "com- 
panions" or  "associates"  who  listen  for  the 
voice  of  the  bride,  ver.  13,  Piscator  in  all  seri- 
ousness understands  God  the  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Ghost;  whilst  tlie  followers  of 
CoccEiDS  for  the  most  part  referred  it  to  the 
angels;  some  of  them,  however,  to  true  Chris- 
tians; and  the  two  most  recent  interpreters  of  this 
class  suppose  that  the  Gentile  world  before  the 
time  of  Christ  is  intended  by  the  expression,  but 
with  this  difference  that  one  (Haiin)  has  in  minil 
chiefly  the  Gentiles  as  hostile  to  revelation,  the 
other  (IlENosTENBERr.)  as  kindly  disposed  to  the 
people  of  God  and  His  revelation. 


2.  It  is  apparent  from  the  exegetical  explana- 
tions given  above,  that  this  divergence  in  the 
allegorical  exegesis  is  matched  by  an  equal  va- 
riety of  opinions  and  uncertain  guess-work  im 
the  part  of  the  merely  historical  interpreters  of 
this  chapter  ;  and  in  fact  it  is  scarcely  possible  by 
even  the  most  cautious  procedure  to  arrive  at 
perfectly  certain  results  in  respect  to  the  mean- 
ing and  the  connection  of  the  sentences  of  this 
section  with  their  fragment-like  brevity  and  ob- 
scurity. This,  however,  only  m.akes  it  the  more 
necessary  with  a  view  to  its  practical  applica- 
tion to  adhere  to  its  leading  and  most  perspicuous 
passage  which  formulates  the  fundamental 
thought  not  only  of  the  closing  act,  but  of  the 
entire  poem  with  solemn  emphasis  and  with  an 
elevation  and  pathos  of  language  purposely 
rising  to  a  climax.  We  mean  the  spirited  enco- 
mium contained  in  vers.  6  and  7  of  love  between 
man  and  woman  as  a  mysterious  divine  creation, 
and  a  power  superior  to  death,  Shulamith's 
exalted  panegyric  of  conjugal  and  wedded  love, 
the  culminating  point  of  the  entire  poem,  and 
the  only  true  key  to  its  meaning  according  to 
the  unanimous  assumptions  of  interpreters  of 
all  schools.  Delitzsch  (p.  182  f. )  has  given  the 
best  exposition  of  the  thought  contained  in  this 
leading  passage,  which  has  in  it  the  gist  of  the 
whole  matter:  "Shulamith  herself  here  declares 
how  she  loves  Solomon  and  how  she  wishes  lo 
be  loved  by  him.  This  spontaneous  testimony 
discloses  to  us  the  intermingling  of  human  free- 
dom and  of  divine  necessity  in  true  love  between 

man  and  woman.  Love  is  a,TP  nDHTt^,  aflame 
kindled  by  God  Himself.  Man  cannot  produce  it 
in  himself,  and  though  he  employ  all  his  wealth 
for  the  purpose,  he  cannot  kindle  it  in  others. 
She  is  speaking,  of  course,  of  true  love,  which  is 
directed  to  the  person  and  not  to  any  mere 
things.  Man  cannot  create  this  love  by  his  own 
agency.  It  is  an  operation  of  God — a  divine 
flume,  which  seizes  upon  a  man  like  death  with 
irresistible  power,  and  can  neither  be  quenched 
nor  extinguished  by  any  calamity  or  by  any  bos- 
tile  force.  There  is  thus  evinced  in  true  love  an 
inevitable  and  invincible  power  of  divine  neces- 
sity. But  this  divine  necessity  has  for  its  other 
side  human  freedom.  It  is  the  inmost  an'.l  truest 
ego  of  a  man,  from  which  this  divine  flume  of  love 
blazes  forth.  Whilst  a  man  becomes  a  lover  by  a 
resistless  divine  energy,  the  lover'spassionatc  de- 
sire for  the  possession  of  the  beloved  object  is  as 
vehement  and  inflexible  as  the  resistless  and  all- 
devouring  grave.  The  lover  loves  because  he  nuist, 
but  love  is  at  the  same  time  his  most  pleasurable 
volition,  a  return  of  love  his  most  ardent  desire. 
Smitten  with  love  to  Shulamith  Solomon  exclaims: 
How  beautiful  and  how  comely  art  thou,  0  love, 
among  delights  (vii.  7);  and  smitten  with  love 
to  Solomon  .Shulamith  pr.ays :  Place  mo  as  a  sig- 
net upon  thy  heart,  as  a  signet  ring  upon  thine 
arm  (viii.  ti)."  In  this  declaration  of  Shulamith, 
which  gathers  up  all  the  main  elements  in  the 
idea  of  wedded  love  and  experience,  ami  accord- 
ingly formulates  the  fundamental  thought  of  the 
entire  poem  there  is  no  allusion  indeed  to  the 
blessing  of  children  as  the  resplendent  consum- 
mation of  the  wedded  communion  of  man  and 
wife,   as  also  no  express    mention    is    made    of 


Vlll.  5-14. 


THE  SONG  OP  SOLOMON. 


135 


this  matter  elsewhere  throughout  the  piece. 
For  to  see  an  allusion  to  it  in  what  Shulamith 
says,  viii.  lli,  of  the  "  thousaud "  due  to  her 
husband  from  the  produce  of  his  vineyard,  would 
evidently  be  forced  and  arbitrary.  But  De- 
LITZSCH  properly  remarks  in  relation  to  this 
omission  of  an  apparently  essential  particular ; 
"  The  author  of  Canticles  has  avoided  everything, 
which  would  looli  to  an  externalizing  of  the  re- 
lation, which  he  describes.  Ho  makes  no  men- 
tion of  children  :  for  a  marriage  in  which  the 
parties  who  conclude  it  are  not  an  eud  to  each 
other,  but  merely  a  means  for  obtaining  posterity, 
iloes  not  correspond  to  its  idea.  Children  are 
by  divine  blessing  the  sparks  which  result,  when 
ihe  flames  of  two  souls  flash  imo  one.  The  lat- 
ter is  the  main  thing  in  marriage."  It  is  also  a 
delicate  feature  of  great  psychological  as  well 
as  Eesthetic  value,  that  Shulamith,  the  chaste 
and  pure-minded  maiden,  though  silent  re- 
specting the  blessing  of  children,  mentions  in- 
stead with  tender  love  and  solicitude  her  little 
sister  and  her  brothers,  the  same  who  had  pre- 
viously been  angry  with  her  and  treated  her 
harshly  (i.  6).  and  consults  with  her  brothers 
respecting  the  future  of  the  former  and  in  her 
iuterceasion  with  her  royal  husband  lays  to  heart 
the  future  of  her  brothers.  This  overplus  of  love, 
which  with  all  the  ardent  fervor  of  her  devotion 
to  her  husband,  she  still  preserves  for  her  own 
family  (see  viii.  12) :  this  touching  sisterly  love, 
which  is  essentially  identical  with  her  faithful 
and  pious  filial  devotion  to  her  mother  repeat- 
edly shown  in  the  previous  portion  of  the  Song; 
this  combined  with  her  gladsome,  cheery,  play- 
ful disposition,  which  expresses  itself  in  her 
concluding  words,  adds  the  finishing  touch, 
sweetly  transfiguring  this  noble  picture  which 
the  poet  would  sketch  of  her  ch  iracter  as  the 
ideal  of  a  bride  and  of  a  young  wife,  and  by 
which — an  unconscious  organ  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
— he  has  set  forth  the  idea  and  mystery  of  mar- 
riage itself  as  a  sacred  and  divine  institution. 

3.  From  this  luminous  and  revered  female 
figure  there  proceeds  a  transfiguring  radiance, 
in  which  the  form  of  her  royal  husband,  the 
enthusiastic  admirer  and  spirited  singer  of  her 
love  and  her  loveliness  also  shines  with  a  clear 
and  pleasing  light.  But  yet  for  the  sake  of  a 
complete  and  thoroughly  con-eet  typical  estimate 
of  tile  transaction,  the  sad  truth  nuist  not  be  left 
out  of  the  account,  that  the  bond  of  love  so 
purely  and  holily  regarded  by  her  was  neverthe- 
less at  last  desecrated  and  broken  by  him.  For 
that  this  was  the  case,  can  scarcely  be  doubted 
from  the  manner  in  which  both  the  historians 
of  the  Old  Testament  record  the  final  fortunes 
of  Solomon  and  the  eud  of  his  life  (1  Kin.  xi. 
1-43,  2  Chron.  ix.  22-31).  Of  a  sincere  and 
pertnanent  conversion  of  this  monarch  to  .a  God- 
fearing and  virtuous  walk  in  the  evening  of  his 
days  neither  the  book  of  Kings  nor  Chronicles 
has  anything  to  relate,  Ihe  latter  of  which  would 
sc.-ircely  have  omitted  to  note  a  similarity  in  the 
life  of  Solomon  to  that  of  Manasseh  in  this 
respect.  That  no  proof  can  be  drawti  from  the 
book  of  Ecclesiastes  for  this  view,  a  favorite  one 
with  many  of  the  older  theologians,  the  intro- 
duction to  this  book  may  teach  us  (§  4).  We 
must  stanil  by  Ihe  as.sumption  confirmed  by  1  Kin. 


xi.  and  contradicted  by  no  other  testimony,  that 
the  unhappy  king  afterwards  proceeded  from 
that  stage  of  polygamous  degeneracy  indicated 
in  this  Song,  especially  in  vi.  8,  to  still  grosser 
extravagances  in  this  direction,  and  thus  at  last 
filled  up  the  measure  of  his  sins,  and  brought 
upon  himself  and  upon  his  house  the  corresponding 
judgment  beginning  with  the  revolt  of  Jeroboam. 
He  must  accordingly  have  deeply  wounded  Shula. 
mith's  heart  by  a  speedy  return  to  the  criminally 
voluptuous  and  idolatrous  manners  of  his  court 
and  have  repaid  her  love  so  pure  and  ardent 
with  base  infidelity.  This  deplorable  condition 
of  things  casts  a  light  not  very  creditable  to  him 
upon  his  relation  to  his  antitype  in  the  history 
of  redemption,  the  .Messiah.  Love  for  the  purest 
and  best  of  the  daughters  of  his  people,  whom 
he  adorned  with  the  crown  royal  and  raised  from 
j  an  humble  station  lo  the  throne  of  David,  could 
I  not  permanently  purify  and  hallow  the  earllily 
j  Solomon  and  rescue  him  from  the  abyss  of  crime 
I  into  which  he  was  in  danger  of  sinking.  The 
I  heavenly  Solomon,  on  the  contrary,  must  labori- 
I  ously  lift  the  Church,  which  He  is  gathering  to 
;  Himself  from  amongst  mankind,  step  by  step  to 
'  the  luminous  elevation  of  His  own  holiness  ami 
I  truth  ;  He  must  have  great  indulgence  for  her 
weakness,  must  pardon  her  many  relapses  into 
her  old  walk  of  sin,  must  absolutely  despair  of 
presenting  His  bride  perfectly  pure,  without  spot 
or  wrinkle,  so  long  as  she  remains  in  this  present 
world.  la  the  Old  Testament  type,  therefore, 
we  find  a  sad  contrast  between  the  fidelity  of  the 
wife  and  the  unfailhfulness  of  her  husband.  Of 
the  Messianic  archetype,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
written  with  perfect  truth:  "Though  we  be  un- 
faithful, yet  He  abideth  faithful;  He  cannot 
deny  Himself"  (2  Tim.  ii.  13).  In  the  ty[)e  no 
really  pure,  complete  and  durable  realization  of 
the  idea  of  marriage  is  reached,  but  the  natural 
relation  existing  for  a  time  is  only  too  speedily 
perverted  to  its  opposite  by  the  fault  of  the  h;is- 
band.  In  the  fulfilment  of  the  type  it  is  ilie 
husband,  the  new  .\dam,  the  Son  of  Man  who 
came  down  from  heaven  and  yet  is  essentially  in 
heaven  (.John  iii.  lo),  who  not  merelj'  concludes 
the  marriage  covenant  with  mankind,  but  like- 
wise preserves,  confirms,  refines  and  conducts  it 
step  by  step  to  its  ideal  consummation,  which  is  at 
the  same  time  the  palingenesia  and  perfection  of 
humanity.  To  our  human  consciousness  this 
parallel,  which  strictly  carried  out  leaves  scarcely 
more  than  a  faiut  glimmer  of  resemblance  be- 
tween the  type  and  the  archclype,  has  in  it 
something  deeply  humiliating.  13ut  it  may  never- 
theless operate  to  the  strengtliening  of  faith  in 
our  heart,  for  it  points  us  to  the  one  divine 
helper  and  physician,  who  heals  all  our  diseases; 
it  drives  us  into  the  anrs  of  the  one  mediator 
and  comforter,  who  is  rich  in  mercy  unto  all 
them  that  call  upon  Him ;  it  encourages  us  to 
childlike  confidence  in  the  heavenly  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith,  whose  grace  worketh  all  in 
all  according  to  His  word  of  promise  (John  v.  15' 
Phil.  i.  6;   ii.  12,  eic). 

His  love  no  *»rnl  nor  measure  knows. 

No  fh^age  can  turn  its  com-se, 
Immutiibly  the  same  it  flows, 

b'rotn  uoe  oteinal  sourou. 


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